Floor space, line layout, and operator headcount are all carefully planned to support a smooth and controlled production flow. Performance depends on a balance between capacity, reliability, and organization. But when demand changes, this balance must be adjusted to keep delivering reliable service that meets customer expectations.
The Challenge: New customer demand and limited floor space
A site already operating at full capacity
This is exactly what happened to one of our clients. As a PCBA manufacturer in the automotive sector, they were already using nearly every available square meter of their factory. Their production lines ran at high speed, with excellent quality and a well-structured organization. Recently, one of their major clients, accounting for a significant part of their revenue, requested higher volumes within the usual delivery lead times, without compromising on quality or reliability.
The major challenge: increasing throughput without expanding the facility
To meet this demand, a new full conformal coating line with infrared curing would have been required. However, such a line requires significant space, and the factory no longer had the available surface.
SEVERAL OPTIONS WERE CONSIDERED:
Reorganizing the workshop?
Expanding the building?
Relocating to a larger site?
Each option came with major drawbacks:
Relocation and reinstallation of lines
Additional staff
High costs
Production downtime
However, rejecting the client’s request would have posed a significant commercial risk.
None of these solutions fit the projected budget or the current delivery commitments.
A solution had to be found quickly, one that would increase production capacity without disrupting the current flow.
The EXELSIUS S-Line solution: a complete and compact coating line
A space-saving solution by design
S-LINE REDUCE THE FOOTPRINT BY UP TO 50%
This is when the client turned to EXELSIUS. The S-Line quickly emerged as the ideal solution. S-Line is a modular and ultra-compact coating line. It reduces floor space requirements by up to 50 percent while integrating a complete coating process, including:
Coating application
Automatic inspection
Infrared curing
Cooling
Thanks to its vertical design, the process and application modules are stacked to ensure continuous board flow in a compact footprint, while maintaining a high level of quality.
A modular line, easy to operate
YOUR PROCESS,
YOUR CONFIGURATION,
YOUR S-LINE
S-Line is fully modular, allowing easy adaptation to the desired process and production volume.
Example of low volume S-Line
Example of medium volume S-Line
Example of high volume S-Line
RUN IT WITH A SINGLE OPERATOR
Its return path configuration, combined with the Nexus interface developed by EXELSIUS, enables a single operator to control the entire line. Nexus provides continuous equipment monitoring and allows users to:
Prioritize alarms
Detect anomalies quickly
Track performance
Reduce downtime through proactive maintenance
The line is also IPC CFX compatible, which simplifies MES integration and ensures full real-time production traceability.
Integration of the S-Line in the client’s factory
After presenting their production constraints, the client worked with us to configure a custom-fit S-Line. The line includes all the required modules to prepare the PCB, coat top and bottom sides, cure the bottom, cool the product, and perform automatic inspection with the XPECT module. The line was installed and became fully operational within just a few days.
By choosing S-Line, the client was able to:
Increase production capacity without expanding their site
Reduce operating costs
Maintain consistent coating process reliability
Retain their main client with no delivery interruptions
Conclusion: a compact line for maximum performance
Thanks to the S-Line, our client successfully overcame a strategic challenge. They increased production capacity without expanding the factory or disrupting their current organization. This compact, robust, and connected solution gave them more space, more time, and more reliability, while strengthening their site’s competitiveness.
What’s next?
This is just the beginning. You will soon discover that the S-Line can be optimized even further. New upgrades are already being considered to make the factory even more efficient, flexible, and competitive.
