Michael,
I agree with the comments that it depends on the paste. I would add another
option. You can extend the working life of printed paste by keeping the
pasted PCB in a refrigerator, this slows the evaporation of volatiles. Again
consult your paste vendor. I have held units overnight this way during
prototyping and still had good re-flow, wouldn't go that long in production
though.
The best option would be changing to a past with a long working time.

BTW will management let you spend some of the money saved on other
equipment? Could soften the blow of compromising the ideal line set-up ;)
Dan

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