Used K&S Maxum for sale

The K&S Maxum, introduced by Kulicke & Soffa in 2002, is a fully automatic gold-wire ball bonder designed as a high-end, high-volume production platform for ultra-fine pitch BGA (Ball Grid Array) packages. At the time of its release, it was the industry’s first system capable of mass production with a 45 μm pad pitch.

Key Performance and Breakthroughs

The system’s most notable specification is its 65 ms wire-bonding cycle time—an improvement in productivity of approximately 20% over its predecessor, the 8028 PPS—making it one of the fastest automatic ball bonders on the market upon its launch. In terms of precision, the Maxum supports gold wire as fine as 0.8 mil and utilizes a transducer frequency of 113–115 kHz, offering the positioning accuracy required to meet the stringent fine-pitch demands of advanced packaging at the time.

Market Validation and Positioning

The first major commercial order for the Maxum came from Amkor Technology, which issued a letter of intent in 2002 to purchase 200 units for its ultra-fine pitch BGA production lines in South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and mainland China. This order was significant for the packaging equipment market of that era and established the Maxum as a pivotal model in the K&S product lineup; it succeeded the 8028 PPS as the primary high-end solution and later paved the way for upgraded versions, such as the Maxum Plus and Maxum Ultra.

Summary

As a classic fully automatic ball bonder, the Maxum distinguished itself through its 45 μm pad-pitch production capability and high-speed bonding cycle. It played a critical role in the mass production of advanced BGA packages during the early 2000s. Any Maxum units currently in circulation are pre-owned, typically dating from production batches around 2003.