How much does PCB handling equipment cost?
Conveyors, loaders, buffers and inverters are priced per station. What each one costs you to leave out is usually the bigger number.
PCB handling is priced per station rather than per line, which means it can be staged. A single transfer conveyor is a small purchase; a full magazine-loader-to-unloader configuration is set by lane count, length, board size and whether SMEMA integration and traceability are required.
Priced per station, so buy in stages
Most lines are not rebuilt at once. Adding a magazine loader at the front removes one operator from a bench; adding a buffer between two processes stops the faster one idling.
Because each station is separately priced and SMEMA-compatible, the build order can follow the bottleneck rather than a masterplan.
What changes the number
Lane count. Dual-lane doubles throughput and costs accordingly.
Board size envelope, especially oversized, very thin or heavy assemblies, which need different support and clamping.
Motorised width adjustment versus manual — worth it as soon as changeovers are frequent.
Traceability: barcode scanning and data capture add hardware and integration.
The cost of not automating handling
Handling equipment rarely improves the process it feeds — it improves the utilisation of everything around it. A printer waiting on an operator is an expensive machine running at a fraction of its capacity.
The honest way to size this is to measure how long your placement or reflow equipment spends waiting.
On published prices
We publish a range per model on request rather than a headline figure, because the configuration moves the number more than the machine does. Tell us the part and the volume and we will send the band for a build that actually suits it.
Commonly asked
Is your handling equipment SMEMA compatible?
Yes. SMEMA handshaking is standard across the range, so machines drop into existing lines alongside other manufacturers' printers, placement and reflow equipment without custom integration work.
Can we start with one conveyor and add later?
That is the normal path. Each station is priced and integrated independently, so the line can grow toward the bottleneck rather than being specified all at once.
Do you publish prices?
We publish a range per model on request rather than a headline figure, because the configuration moves the number more than the machine does. Tell us the part and the volume and we will send the band for a build that actually suits it.
Get the answer for your actual part
A guide can only take you so far. Send us the board, the fluid or the fastener and we will run it, film it, and come back with cycle times and a quote.
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