Achieve an almost 90% reduction in line stops
Exchange nozzles without stopping production — Developer Story
Even for highly automated SMT lines, many manufacturers still stop production whenever a nozzle needs to be replaced.
While the replacement itself takes only a few minutes, those interruptions accumulate day after day, resulting in significant production losses.
Fuji redefined nozzle replacement with the development of the Nozzle Supply Unit, enabling nozzles to be replaced without stopping production.
It was recognized with a 2026 NPI Award for its innovation.
Have you ever had the following issues?
The line is stopped
every nozzle exchange.
Even for automated
production lines,
we still rely on people
for this one task.
I want to maintain nozzle quality, but it is difficult
to determine when
to exchange nozzles.
We want to balance
productivity and quality.
We spoke with the development team to find out how they solved these challenges.
"I want to eliminate line stops." ―― Inspiration behind the development
―― What inspired you to develop this product?
Traditionally, operators have to stop the machine to exchange nozzles. Each replacement only takes a few minutes, but the accumulated stop time becomes a significant factor in lowering equipment utilization. Users with particularly high operational requirements viewed these line stop losses as a major challenge.
That led us to develop a solution that enables nozzle exchange without stopping production.
What is the Nozzle Supply Unit?
―― Tell us about the Nozzle Supply Unit.
The Nozzle Supply Unit automatically supplies and collects nozzles for the NXTR A model.
Its key advantage is the ability to exchange defective nozzles or nozzles needing maintenance without stopping production.
Nozzles can also be automatically exchanged according to the production schedule, providing the flexibility needed for high-mix production.
Significant improvements observed firsthand on-site
―― What benefits have users seen after implementation?
The most common feedback is that the number of production line stops has been dramatically reduced.
One user reduced monthly line downtime from 528 minutes to approximately 49 minutes, an improvement of about 90%.
Because nozzles can be exchanged individually, the Nozzle Supply Unit has also been highly praised for helping maintain consistent production quality.
Our goal is full automation.
―― What are your plans for the future?
We believe there is still room for improvement.
Our goal is a factory where nozzle management requires no conscious attention from operators, allowing production to continue without stopping.
We will continue developing technologies that further drive us toward achieving full automation.
