MELSS marked a successful presence at Productronica India 2025, showcasing our comprehensive range of Electronic Manufacturing and Testing solutions to industry leaders, customers, and partners. The exhibition provided us with the perfect platform to highlight our automation capabilities, advanced programming solutions, robotic soldering, and material innovations that are shaping the future of electronics manufacturing.

Showcasing Innovation

At the heart of our showcase was the BPM310 Automated Programmer from our principal BPM Microsystems, demonstrated live at our booth. Its speed, accuracy, and versatility attracted significant attention, reinforcing its position as a powerful solution for device programming.

We also presented the MELSS SolderBot – our robotic soldering system designed for precision, consistency, and traceability. With features like programmable soldering, automated tip cleaning, and barcode-based traceability, SolderBot demonstrated how robotic soldering can elevate efficiency and quality in modern manufacturing.

Adding further strength to our display, soldering materials from Indium Corporation highlighted the importance of innovation in materials science to complement advanced automation technologies.

For the first time, MELSS also showcased SMT/PCB Line Automation solutions, which generated keen interest among visitors and opened doors to insightful discussions about production efficiency, traceability, and end-to-end automation.

A proud moment at the event was being recognized by our valued principal, Indium Corporation, with a special memento. This recognition reflects the dedication of the MELSS team and the strong partnership we have shared with Indium for over six years in driving growth and innovation in the Indian market. We sincerely thank Indium Corporation for their trust and look forward to achieving many more milestones together.

Building the Future

Our participation at Productronica India 2025 was more than an exhibition – it was an opportunity to engage with customers, partners, and industry peers, leading to valuable discussions and fresh ideas. The positive response reinforced our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions that combine automation, robotics, testing, and materials expertise to empower electronics manufacturing in India.

As we look ahead, MELSS remains dedicated to pioneering technologies, strengthening partnerships, and enabling our customers’ success in a rapidly evolving industry.

Industrial Automation is an umbrella term that refers to the improvement of processes by using any form of software and hardware to aid operators, including Robotics. After the start of the Industrial Revolution, the most important disruption has been the introduction of industrial automation.

The first attempt at industrial automation was made during World War 2 with the introduction of Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) machines. The CNC machines have evolved from basic equipment to those that minimized the need for human intervention and ensured higher levels of operational accuracy.

Industrial Automation also includes data acquisition systems, supervisory control, and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems collect data from various sensors and PLCs attached to the factory equipment. They not only collect data from the PLCs but also control their functioning.

The advent of Robots in the early 1970s has added a new dimension to Industrial Automation, while Collaborative Robots (Cobots) have added momentum to the adoption of Robotics. The vast range of End of Arm Tools (EOATs) available is often the distinguishing performance factor for robots and cobots.

Robots

Normally used to handle heavier or larger-sized objects with speed and precision, robots require dedicated space with limited human movement to avoid workspace injuries. This is achieved by using proper fencing in the enclosure where they are located. Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) should also be applied to avoid any accidental operation which can lead to injury – only authorised persons should be allowed to set LOTO. In closed environments, floor space becomes critical for such an arrangement.

For external environments such as despatch bays of automobile plants or in cargo bays of seaports, there is a need to withstand adverse climatic conditions. Hazardous or continuous process environments also present their own unique challenges. Robots made of speciality materials are used in these cases.

In special cases Robots can also be equipped with special sensors, in which case a Robot performs its tasks in 3 stages of sense, plan, and act. In-built sensors enable robots to sense their environment. Based on this, the optimal route plan for the robot is prepared using the required programmable interface system. In the act stage, the robot performs the processes and sequences as determined in the planning stage.

Cobots

Unlike robots, Cobots can function alongside humans. They need less floor space, no safety fencing system and come with many in-built safety features to reduce collision or contact injury to humans. They can easily be moved from one application to another by simple reprogramming, and their movement is also easy due to lower weight. Additionally, they also cost less than their robot counterparts. Certain models can be mounted on Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to augment pick and place operations in warehouses. Cobots are particularly useful in applications such as CNC, injection moulding, and welding which handle smaller objects.

Trends in Robotics

The field of Robotics today also encompasses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning using which robots can be programmed to perform advanced tasks. Advances such as open source Operating Systems like ROS (Robot Operating System) have made programming Robots accessible to the public at lesser cost. This drives innovation making Robots more agile and contributing to improved efficiency, quality, and productivity.

EOATs

The suitability of any Robot or Cobot to an application is determined by its EOAT (End of Arm Tooling). Different EOATs are available suiting different industries such as logistics, F&B, automobiles, avionics, shipping, medical, hospitality, and continuous process.

MELSS has provided many automation solutions for industry including SCADA, PLCs, Robots and Cobots. We provide complete solutions in Robotics and our experts suggest appropriate equipment based on your needs. We use an exhaustive range of Cobots from Doosan, Robots from Yaskawa/ Epson and EOATs from OnRobot. Our indigenously developed Solderbot helps in Robotic Soldering. MELSS repertoire of automation also involves electronic hardware developed in-house that allows our many customers to acquire data on the shopfloor for enabling traceability, data logging, warehouse automation and assembly-kitting activities.

For more:https: //www.melss.com/industrial-automation/

Electronic components such as PCBs have increasingly become ubiquitous with all industry today, from smartphones to automobiles. And without proper soldering of these electronic components, much of the technological advancement of today may not have been possible. For analysing enterprise-wide soldering process and performance, data is needed. Industry 4.0 provides the platform for this.

Large-scale soldering equipment such as those in SMT, wave and reflow soldering along with pick-and-place robots have already moved to Industry 4.0 with documented data for greater control. However, transitioning hand soldering to Industry 4.0 poses a challenge.

Hand Soldering

Hand soldering, which is still required for certain specialty, irregular, or heat-sensitive components, has become more challenging, requiring highly skilled soldering technicians, improved process controls, and advanced hand-soldering tools and equipment. Manual rework, repair and replacement is required for issues such as bridging, tombstoning, slump, solder beading, insufficient solder, and damaged components from larger automated soldering equipment.

Working with exceedingly small components which are packed closely in high-density PCBs needs highly skilled soldering, often under a microscope or a camera, using specialised tools such as ultra-fine soldering tips, tweezers and handpieces.

Besides, high-power industrial electronics and high-frequency telecommunication devices need to be hand soldered.

Upgrading to Industry 4.0 using IoT is the need of the hour for hand soldering for greater visibility and traceability.

Metcal’s path-breaking solutions for Hand Soldering

Metcal, which had already answered the challenges in hand soldering with many path-breaking innovations such as SmartHeat and Connection Validation, now brings the CV-IOT Gateway for greater process control and traceability.

SmartHeat technology in the cartridge involves a non-heating core surrounded by an outer heating layer of magnetic alloy. When a high frequency current is passed over the heater the outer layer heats up causing the magnetic properties to be lost. This results in the migration of current to the non-heating copper core which in turn leads to the restoration of magnetic properties. This process is repeated cyclically till the Solder Joint is complete.

Connection Validation (CV) is another innovation from Metcal which eases the soldering process for the operator by indicating when a joint is complete using a closed loop feedback mechanism in the form of an audible and a visual alert. Joint completion is achieved after Solder Event Detection, Preliminary Validation, Liquidus Detection, and Intermetallic Compound (IMC) Calculation.

Metcal’s CV systems employ a patented chip-in-cartridge technology whereby a small microchip in each heater cartridge passes information to the CV unit on the tip temperature rating, tip geometry, lot number, and more, allowing managers to allow and restrict specific cartridges on each system and protect the system from non-conforming cartridges.

When accessible enterprise-wide in Industry 4.0, this information helps in better decision-making to improve productivity, efficiency and quality. An IoT gateway device is required for this.

Metcal’s CV IOT Gateway

The Metcal CV IOT Gateway device when connected to the CV System and a Computer, provides a range of information on each solder joint such as:

• Timestamp
• Station name and type (Lead or Lead-Free)
• IP Address
• MAC Address
• PCB number for traceability
• Cartridge part number, type, serial number and lot number
• Temperature scale (C/F)
• Station port used
• Joint count
• Idle temperature
• CV validation result
• Tip temperature during soldering

This brings Hand Soldering into Industry 4.0, allowing decision makers to improve business and plan better using the vast repertoire of information now available.

MELSS has been bringing the latest innovations to industry through its line of products along with those from world-leading brands such as Metcal.

Read More