Typically you have a stencil that you squeeze the solder paste through and then you put the IC on top with a tweezer and bake the whole thing with something lik

Typically you have a stencil that you squeeze the solder paste through and then you put the IC on top with a tweezer and bake the whole thing with something like a hair drier. It's not that difficult to get good results without using an expensive pick&place robot.