Will The “Internet of Manufacturing” Really Impact Business?

Estimated reading time: 20 minutes

Supply Chain Solutions

A key barrier to the actual realization of flexibility is the physical management of materials. The SMT shop-floor is usually home to an extreme amount of unmanaged raw material inventory that accumulates as SMT machines perform changeovers. It takes time and effort to count and return materials into the warehouse; and, with some ERP systems, it is not even possible. Instead the materials stay on the shop-floor in unmanaged locations. At times, where unexpected materials shortages happen that stop the line operation, it would be convenient to be able to find the needed materials locally so that production can restart more quickly.

However, it is the unmanaged material on the shop-floor that ERP does not have visibility over that creates the internal shortages in the first place. When the Internet of Manufacturing can be used to account for every material consumption or spoilage, material inventory accuracy is ensured. The use of the IoM materials information can be translated into material pull signals so that needed replenishments and materials for changeover can be automatically ordered and Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery managed through automated logistics. Not only is the inventory accuracy preserved, but as much as 95% of the material accumulation on the shop-floor can easily be avoided, which reduces the physical constraint on executing planning changes, reduces investment cost, and doubles inventory turns. The accuracy and timeliness of the IoM data means that the entire shop-floor material logistics can be fully automated.

Quality Solutions

In addition to the closed-loop line feedback solutions, IoM can be used to augment quality performance through automated collection of traceability data. This data includes:

• Material Traceability: The use of specific materials used on specific PCBs, for example, from SMT, pin-through-hole machines, manual assembly stations, repair stations, and system builds.
• WIP Traceability: The routing confirmation and enforcement of PCBs through all production processes.
• Process Traceability: The collection of key data from processes, especially those that provide test results and/or defect symptom information, including manual operations.
• Engineering Traceability: The assurance that the setup execution of the operation of each process was in line engineering specifications, including program names, document names, versions, and revision control.

Both traceability and the enforcement of correct machine operation, where done manually, has been a significant burden to the industry for many years, mostly in safety-critical sectors such as the automotive, medical, and aerospace industries. With expectations of cost reduction now affecting every part of the operation, the gathering of traceability data going forward needs to be done without representing a net cost to the operation.

Having the fully detailed and complete product build record in the form of traceability data, deep analysis can be made to find the root causes of even one-off defects found during the assembly or test processes or in the market. The scope of any issues found can also be determined accurately, for example, the use of a specific material or a specific process in a certain condition at a certain time. These benefits with the low cost of automated data capture can greatly help to reduce the cost of poor quality and provide brand image protection by ensuring that traceability data is available and visible in any situation.

Yes, the "Internet of Manufacturing" Really Can Impact Business!

The principles of IoM as we have discussed here include the ability to get data from any process in manufacturing analogous to a browser and website service at each process. The effect on manufacturing starts with the ability to capture data, retain memory, and distribute at each process step to qualify and normalize information ready for use. A standard IoM protocol would be able to provide access to the information on demand for better reporting and to be used by big-data applications.

IoM data also could create technical engineering solutions that allow line equipment to “adjust itself” to increase productivity and quality. Across the whole production floor, the automated collection of traceability data can eliminate the burden imposed by manual data collection for conformance, compliance, and quality. The IoM data can be used to actually optimize and manage the live production schedule, which includes the flow of materials and products so that operational performance can remain at nearly the same levels when executing high-mix production as it is with high-volume production.

This ability to managing and optimizing a live production schedule is the biggest impact on business, not just for the incremental cost savings, but by redefining manufacturing itself. Rather than accepting the assumption that, for the past 20 years, manufacturing is only financially viable when done in lower cost geographies, the whole business, including product distribution, can now be conducted at a lower cost when manufacturing closer to the market.

Supporting legacy, new, and future automated processes, as well as the vast number of manual processes in use today, is the key to being able to successfully introduce the Internet of Manufacturing into SMT production. The electronics industry is coming of age with the Internet of Manufacturing technology, and we now have the opportunity to escape from the shackles of data compatibility and reliability problems. The SMT manufacturing world is on the brink of revolution.

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