Usual questions:
How many assemblies per time frame?
How many different assemblies?
Are there any families?
What is the cycles time requirement?
Is the assembly designed for selective solder, different clearances than
wave and hand soldering?
Is it all point to point soldering or is there a dip?
Dips can handle 1 solder joint to 100's in a 40 second cycle time.
The custom tooling is expensive and has a 12 week or more lead time, worth
every penny on the right job.
Lead or lead free or both?
How many different fluxes?
Can an alcholol based flux be used?
Has the customer mandated any paremeters; flux, temperatures, solders,
yields, etc?
Size and weight of assemblies.
Class 1, 2 or 3 or NASA spec?
How good is process and maintenance tech's at the location? The process
demands attention on PM or defects occur.

Manufacturer have good local support?

There are machines that will produce a unit every 35 to 100 seconds 7x24.
Can use both dip and point to point soldering.
Others that are much less expensive, slower, that can solder point to point
or dip.

If the manufacturers machine is not well supported at your location stay
away from it.
Your questions indicate that you do not have one.
There is a learning curve to any of the machines.

Very much have to fit the tool to the job.

Evaluated Pillerhouse for an automotive job.
Looks like a small machine, after all the required options were on the
machine it took up a square only a few inches less than a competitors big
as a bus machine.
The final decsion came down to running samples and meeting cylce times.
The equipment was purchased for a specific line and was signed off when it
met the contracted specifications of yield and throughput.

A small, high mix, job shop has a completely different set of requirements.

I have had great machines in countries that had poor support.
The machines were difficult to maintain due to the difficulty in getting
parts, experianced Field Service Engineers and other support.
The same machines ran great when well supported.
This includes the internal support.
Have to split the dictionary on machine, process, material or design
problems.
That  is a skill required internally to be able to request effective
support.
The process is sort of like wavesoldering. There are definate differences
in the process and design rules.

Nitrogen makes a difference, including the purity.

This does not answer your question, there is a lot of specific information
required to make a good desicion.
There are a number of machines available that are suitable based on the
requirements.
Your job is to match them up.


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