Publication date: 12 January 2012
MX-Design, a leading lighting specialist in Belgium, turns entire façades into LED video screens and produces customer-specific LED lighting systems. Quick turnaround times are important for its business, therefore, MX-Design has installed a flexible SMD assembly line from Essemtec.
Brothers Mathieu and Xavier realized in the early days of LED technology that it is not only a new lighting technology but also a significant design element. Large lamp manufacturers did not want and could not create customer-specific solutions and applications. In 2005, the brothers founded MX-Design to fill this market niche.
MX-Design solves lighting tasks on customer demand. Their reference list includes projects such as display windows for shops and even showroom lighting concepts for Maserati. Their largest projects so far have been house fronts that were converted into LED video screens. This technology is called media façade.
The Belgian company is a specialist in the area of exceptional LED lighting solutions. Its services cover the complete project from idea to installation. MX-Design builds, designs and realizes a project.
Customer-specific solutions and exceptional designs require a high degree of flexibility and a quick reaction time. Flexibility is especially important in the area of electronics manufacturing and LED assembly. MX-Design has decided to assemble its PCBs in-house using its own automatic SMD assembly line.
The LED market is in continuous evolution. Every couple of months a new type of LED is released that is more efficient, offers more light and has more color than its predecessor. Supply shortages or discontinuations present major challenges for electronics manufacturers but are daily business.
MX-design has installed its own SMD assembly line in order to react quickly to any changes. The investment was for a turnkey line from Essemtec, the Swiss manufacturer of production systems for electronics. Essemtec's machines are well known for flexibility and quality, which are two highly important features for the business of MX-Design. The line consists of an automatic SMD pick-and-place from the FLX series, an SP004 semiautomatic printer and an RO400FC full convection reflow oven.
Human perception plays an important role in MX-Design’s products. If a new lighting solution works as the developer intended and the customer desired, it can be assessed only when it is finished. Therefore, during the design and development phase it is important to produce prototypes quickly and that changes can be made on short notice.
If MX-Design worked with external assembly services, it would spend much time documenting and communicating and would have to wait several days for each modification. However, due to the in-house SMD production, prototypes can be modified easily. Within five minutes, a new product variant is ready for assessment and qualification. Often this happens directly with the customer.
MX-Design expects further rapid growth of LED applications in the future. “What we are seeing today is only the beginning,” says Vincent Raquet, technical director. Many people still believe that LEDs can save energy and last longer than traditional bulbs, but deliver less light.
“The truth is that LEDs enable much better lighting solutions if you know how,” says Raquet. The latest high-quality light LEDs are more expensive than others; however, in an office or public building where the light is on for 10 to 12 hours daily, LED illumination saves cost. Therefore, the business-to-business market is expected to grow faster than the business-to-customer market.
MX-Design will continue to focus on customer-specific lighting solutions. Because of its own in-house SMD assembly line, it is capable of reacting quickly to LED market changes and completing projects as fast as they are required by the customer.
Vincent Raquet is aware that assembling his PCBs using an external service provider would cost a few cents less. While flexibility cannot be expressed in numbers, it is highly importance for the business, and he feels that the investment has paid off.
The Swiss machine manufacturer Essemtec is a market leader in manufacturing flexible production systems for industrial users. Essemtec has been developing, manufacturing and marketing equipment and machines for all processes in the electronics industry since 1991: printers, dispensers, pick-and-place and soldering systems. Manual, semiautomatic and fully automatic systems are available. The range of products also includes transportation and storage systems, as well as software solutions for planning, simulation optimization and documentation of manufacturing. All Essemtec systems are optimized for maximum flexibility. Users can switch from one product to another in no time, making maximum use of available production capacity. Essemtec - Be more flexible.
