New age manufacturing systems
04/01/2001
"Now we are entering a 'New Age' of manufacturing systems, which places emphasis on the elimination of waste and the reduction of inefficiencies..."
BY DANIEL K. WARD
During the 30 years of my direct involvement with electronics manufacturing, there have been significant manufacturing system philosophy and equipment changes. I have been witness to many eras - some legendary - and I am inclined to believe that we are now entering yet another "new age" in manufacturing.
The Manual Era
When I worked as a process engineer in the late 1960s, most assembly was done on manual assembly lines where product was passed from operator to operator for sequential manual assembly and final test. Machine automation was primarily used to assemble complex subassemblies off-line, which were then bulk delivered to the assembly line. Inventory systems were designed to provide batch lots of components and subassemblies to operators on an as-needed basis. Inventory management was considered successful if the supply of material to the assembly line was uninterrupted, and inventory excesses were not tightly controlled. Quality was determined by testing. Poor quality caused excessive repair, which in turn slowed down output of the line. Quality defects were counted as a percentage of product produced, not "parts per million" (PPM).
Early Automation
Automatic passive component assembly in the 1970s and SMT assembly in the 1980s forever changed the landscape of electronic assembly. As expensive automation replaced manual operators, line build rates increased and quality became a bigger player in manufacturing strategy.
Automated manufacturing systems can produce significantly more output/unit time than manual systems. If not effectively controlled, they can also produce significantly more defects/unit time than a manual system. Early in-line automation forced the development of overall quality systems that identified defects quickly and required immediate corrective action. Thus, over time, automation defect rates have approached single digit PPM, which is a significant improvement over manual assembly's decimal percents.
The second half of the 1980s and the whole of the 1990s was spent integrating automated flow assembly lines, improving equipment performance and optimizing quality performance.
The New Age
Now we are entering a "new age" of manufacturing systems, which emphasizes eliminating waste and reducing inefficiencies from highly automated manufacturing systems.
New age manufacturing systems are based on several fundamental principles. The first principle to consider is customer satisfaction in the system. During the product price-negotiating period, the customer is interested in the lowest possible manufacturing cost. However, after signing the purchasing contracts, the customer will then be interested in the "as received" quality, long-term reliability and an uninterrupted supply of product that meets the proposed schedule. A company's attentiveness to these issues will ultimately determine its long-term relationship with its customers.
The second principle requires eliminating all production waste. Very simply stated, the goal is to maximize the use of people, inventory and equipment without compromising the customer principle. Utilization of assets is the key. Manufacturing systems must be robust and capable of operating 24 hours a day, seven day a week. They must be flexible enough to allow frequent and rapid change from product to product without decrease in product quality. Equipment also should be easily reconfigurable and even moveable to facilitate product change. All of this must be facilitated by a production control system that ensures proper inventories on incoming and outgoing materials.
This second principle represents a typical contract manufacturer's manufacturing system. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) take note: If you plan on starting or staying in the product manufacturing business, you must compete with today's manufacturing system models and the contract manufacturing companies that are already using them.
The third principle involves making sure that production operators are engaged and adding value to the system. Many companies falsely assume that automation replaces people. These companies take people out of the system, relegate them to be on/off button-pushing observers, and then wonder why output and quality is not at expected levels. Defined man/machine interfaces and duties are absolutely necessary in the operation of a successful manufacturing system.
An excellent example of the man/machine interface is the airplane. The airplane (automation) and the pilot (operator) function (fly) better together than they can individually. Pilot control is superior to computer control for the airplane's total mission. The airplane was designed with man/machine interfaces well understood; manufacturing systems need that same understanding.
In short, electronics manufacturing systems have become very automated, thus complex and costly. Areas where cost reduction can take place are in redesigning systems for customer needs, elimination of waste, and improved man/machine interfaces. If, for any reason, you can't reduce manufacturing costs, then you might consider an alternative plan, such as contract manufacturing, to keep your manufacturing costs in line. The time is here to choose!
AP
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DANIEL K. WARD is manager of advanced electronic packaging for Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, One Corporate Center, P.O. Box 9005, Mail Station: D-16, Kokomo, IN 46904-9005; 765-451-3093; Fax: 765-451-3115; E-mail: [email protected].