-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Your In-depth Guide to Reducing Electronics Manufacturing Waste
April 24, 2017 | Danielle Olivier, JJS ManufacturingEstimated reading time: 8 minutes
Waste is a common problem within the electronics manufacturing industry. Whether large volumes of faulty smartphones need recalling or small batches of complex PCB assemblies need reworking, waste can be time consuming and costly to rectify.
In essence, waste is a non-value adding process. If left unnoticed, it can damage reputations and, ultimately, lead to businesses becoming uncompetitive. The good news is there are a number of techniques that can help you identify processes that contribute to high volumes of waste.
In this guide, we introduce you to the principles of DMAIC, Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing, so that you can implement a suitable strategy to minimize your waste output.
What is Waste?
Waste can present itself in various formats but, in simple terms, it can be defined as a product or process that causes delay or defect. Keeping within these two categories, and according to Lean principles, waste (or muda) can be split into seven sub-categories:
1. Transport – this doesn't solely relate to the shipping of goods, it can also include other unnecessary transportation – i.e. moving people, products and information to places they don't need to be.
2. Inventory – the storage of parts, products, pieces or documentation awaiting appropriate processing.
3. Motion – people or equipment moving or walking more than is required to perform the processing.
4. Waiting – the downtime caused by waiting for the next production step - for example, during shift changeover or delayed receipt of vital parts.
5. Overproduction – production ahead of demand.
6. Over processing – relying on inspection to catch issues rather than designing the process to eliminate problems upfront.
7. Defects – rework, scrap, incorrect documentation, etc.
It is important to note that these seven categories are not exhaustive. Other forms of waste have been identified, such as manufacturing goods or services that do not meet customer demands or needs and the under-utilization of skills. By identifying these traits within your own manufacturing facility and then implementing suitable process changes, it's possible to start seeing significant reductions in your waste output.
Techniques that can Help You Identify Waste
DMAIC (project management)
DMAIC is a data-driven processing tool that allows you to logically format an issue and plan around its continuous improvement. The tool demands you break down a problem and then adopt a solution in one logical flow. Each point within the acronym stands for a stage within the process. By following the stages chronologically, identifying wasteful processes and implementing improvements soon become accessible and measurable:
- Define the problem, improvement activity, opportunity for improvement, the project goals, and customer (internal and external) requirements.
- Measure process performance.
- Analyze the process to understand the causes of poor performance.
- Improve process performance by addressing and removing the cause.
- Control the improved process and monitor future performance.
Within the measure (M) and analyse (A) stages of a DMAIC project, Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma strategies are generally implemented to gain the best possible outcome. Lean manufacturing is a model armed with tools that aim to simplify and streamline a process in order to eliminate delay. In turn, Six Sigma is a methodology aimed at optimising and stabilising a process in order to eliminate defects.
Six Sigma (Optimizing and Stabilizing a Process)
Six Sigma focuses on optimizing and stabilizing a process in order to minimize defect levels. Some of the tools that encompass this methodology include control charts, Pareto charts and histograms:
Control chart
Control charts are a statistical process control (SPC) tool that are used to show whether or not your manufacturing processes are in a state of control. The graph uses collected quantitative data from a particular process, which is inputted to collate a base line performance. A realistic target line, derived from your current business position and future targets, is then inputted on top of this. It is then possible to see whether the process is reaching, exceeding or failing to meet your businesses targets. If you regularly miss the target it may be worthwhile re-evaluating your current process using one of the process improvement tools highlighted in the next section of this post.
Pareto chart
This data analysis chart combines both bar charts (individual values in descending order) and line graphs (cumulative total) in order to show which variables contribute most to a process issue. By identifying a defect and investigating the data you can then use a Pareto chart to highlight your findings. A Pareto chart can often identify the most common source of defect, or even the highest occurring defect, both of which are likely contributors to a high waste output. By analyzing your data successfully in this way you can look at ways to combat these problems and, ultimately, lower your manufacturing waste.
Histogram
A histogram is a step-column chart that displays a summary of the variations in (frequency distribution of) quantities (called classes) that fall within certain lower and upper limits in a set of data. Like Pareto and control charts, a histogram is another way to display data in order to identify harmful variances within a process that could be increasing your waste levels. Being aware of these analytical tools can help identify triggers of waste within your business and make the improvement process smoother and easier to integrate into production. In turn, they can help lower costs and improve efficiency, while returning your focus back to manufacturing quality products on a consistent basis.
Lean Manufacturing (Simplifying and Streamlining a Process)
5S, spaghetti diagrams and process mapping are all examples of improvement tools that have the primary intention of streamlining and simplifying a process in order to eliminate delay (a key contributor of waste) within your manufacturing process.
5S
The 5S system is an approach to organizing and standardizing an area to ensure it is optimized for maximum efficiency. By following the five steps, derived from the philosophy of Kaizen, it is possible to minimize the amount of waste an area within your manufacturing facility outputs.
The five stages are:
1. Being organized is key to minimizing waste. By sorting the work area and throwing away anything that doesn’t add value, it is easier to notice problems and address them with solutions.
Page 1 of 2
Suggested Items
Explore Superior Rework & Soldering Technology from Kurtz Ersa at EPTECH Toronto
03/07/2024 | ErsaKurtz Ersa Inc., a leading supplier of electronics production equipment, is excited to announce its participation alongside Comtree at EPTECH Toronto, scheduled to take place Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North.
The Knowledge Base: Mastering the Art of Reworking Circuit Assemblies
01/31/2024 | Mike Konrad -- Column: The Knowledge BaseIn the dynamic realm of electronics manufacturing, the need for reworking circuit assemblies is an inevitable reality. Whether it's correcting defects, upgrading components, or adapting to design changes, the process of rework plays a crucial role in ensuring the functionality and reliability of electronic devices. In this column, we'll delve into the challenges, best practices, types, and reasons for reworking circuit assemblies, and shed light on the intricate world of electronic assembly modification.
Smart Factory Insights: Making Rework a Smart Business Opportunity
01/24/2024 | Michael Ford -- Column: Smart Factory InsightsRework in manufacturing can bring waste, unplanned responses to an error, or too much variation. You also have to retain specialist skills to perform the work. Since rework cannot always be completely eliminated, let’s consider how we can create a new business opportunity.
Rework: A Perspective From the Source
01/17/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamMaria Mejias and her team at Intel work on the cutting edge of rework techniques. Tasked with characterizing rework processes for Intel’s boards and packages, Maria’s work is on the vanguard. We spoke to Maria about how her team works, what it’s like to be on the cutting edge of rework, and what contract manufacturers should expect.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
01/05/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineThe Christmas and New Year’s holidays made for much-appreciated off-time in the U.S. and Europe, but there was still a lot of good industry reading for all to enjoy. From Happy Holden’s influence on our youngest and brightest to the cost of rework, policy challenges ahead for European PCB and PCBA companies, to new faces in the industry—with some bonus R2-D2 thrown in for good measure—these articles are worth a few minutes of your time. Here are my picks from this past week in industry news and feature articles.