KIC to Launch Smart Factory Starter Kit at IPC APEX EXPO 2017

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KIC has announced plans to introduce its new Smart Factory Starter Kit at IPC APEX EXPO 2017, which is scheduled to take place February 14-16, 2017 at the San Diego Convention Center, in San Diego, California.

A new retrofitable smart factory starter kit has virtually all of the elements of the smart factory concept as it relates to reflow ovens, including:

• Machine optimization
• Process transparency
• Extreme Automation
• Flexible production (eliminate changeover time)
• Machine learning
• Real-time information and insight
• Reduced electricity use
• Connectivity
• Retrofitable

There is a lot of talk in the industry about a future with smart factories (IoT, Industry 4.0, IOM, etc.) that promises a leap forward for productivity. A really interesting aspect of this industry trend is the potential for such technology to deliver consistent quality, significant lower production cost, and customer value.

For electronic manufacturers planning their future, this futuristic promise is tempered with a lot of risk, uncertainties, and the sheer scope of the investment and undertaking. What if I go down the wrong road; what if I fail; what if I bet on the wrong standard; etc.?

So for a limited investment ($35,000), a limited scope (engineering time), and a limited time frame (one week), you will have the potential to immediately reap significant benefits of consistent quality, reduced production cost (eliminate rework, scrap, downtime, excessive electricity use, etc.), and satisfied customers (traceability, world-class process control, automatic documentation sharing) in route to a smart factory.

But the new KIC starter kit for reflow ovens will likely yield an even greater benefit: Namely, an opportunity to move up the smart factory learning curve on a low risk – limited scope initial project. You will learn through your reflow oven profiler what works best and what does not for your reflow oven, what the pitfalls are and how to avoid them. Once the smart oven technology roadmap has been achieved, you will be well positioned to take on the much larger scope project of turning your operation into a smart factory with all the benefits that entails.