Happy’s Essential Skills: CIM and Automation Planning, Part 2—Six Principles of Automation

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

Trends in Automation

Historically, if the manufacturing environment was simple enough, the product quantity large enough, and the product characteristics stable enough, you would invest in fixed or rigid mechanization. The only other option was to leave it essentially manual. This applied equally to a single task or an entire manufacturing sequence. Recently, as we talk and view automated systems, the trend is toward flexible and adaptable systems. While labor and fixed automation is increasing in costs, newer technologies are bringing flexible systems down in cost. Viewed as a 'per unit cost,' this means that the intersection of flexible systems versus manual or fixed systems is spreading. This spread covers the typical volumes seen in batch printed circuit production.

Flexible automation in printed circuits today is typically programmable and computer-aided based computer numerical control (CNC) and direct numerical control (DNC) of shearing, drilling, contouring and photo-plotting are examples, as well as computer-aided inspection (AOI), computer-aided test and process automation, and computer-aided artwork/tooling (CAM). Direct imaging and inkjet printing are examples of flexible automation that eliminate many human/machine steps.  All these techniques are truly automation as we have defined it, since they have both a mechanization and a systemization content.

Modern Information Systems (MRPIII)

Flexible automation that is mostly systemization would be the role of a modern information system. For production processes that technique is called manufacturing resources planning (MRPII). This, and the older materials requirements planning (MRPII)—is a management process or technique for taking the business plan and breaking it down into tasks of materials, inventory, schedules, and costs. Specifically, the detailed tasks include:

• Business planning
• Production planning
• Order processing
• Master scheduling
• Materials planning
• Shop floor control
• Vendor scheduling
• Planned execution and feedback  

There is capability of doing evaluations and "what if" scenarios. MRP is a powerful discipline and philosophy, but it is based on company-wide teamwork and detailed implementation—again driven by top management.

MRPIII can be used in just about any size company making any type of product on a process or batch order flow. Some companies using MRP employ as few as 50 people and have annual sales as little as $3 million US. The four basic MRP packages (Figure 7) for discreet product manufacturing are:

Job Shop:

• Traditional MRP with varied routings
• Material based backward scheduling
• Individual shop orders

Disconnected batch flow:

• Lot control
• Serial number BOM effectiveness
• 7000.1 cost accounting compliance^[6]

Repetitive-connected flow:

• Fixed routing cumulative MRP
• Backflush inventory
• Daily or weekly schedules

Process/continuous flow:

• Capacity based forward scheduling

Figure 7: The information extent of systemization varies with the type of manufacturing.

MRPIII systems will not become obsolete by CIM or automation. In fact, just the opposite, as manufacturing systems become more dependent on systemization to control the mechanization, the manufacturing planning and control function will be more indispensable. As we have seen, ten years ago MRP was essential for:

• Material requirements planning
• Capacity requirements planning
• Order entry, master production scheduling, shop floor control, forecasting, resources requirements planning, purchasing distribution resource planning, and cost accounting

Today, MRPIII has added:

• Group technology, preventive maintenance, simulation through-put optimization, demand-pull interfaces, manufacturing decision support, production documentation and computer drawing graphics interfaces.

MRPIII, then, is a technique that centers on the fundamentals of materials and production planning and control. It stresses very accurate data that increases visibility into manufacturing. MRPIII provides a common language for communication—a company game plan that calls for company-wide teamwork and discipline to make it work. It is a basic, comprehensive approach to running a manufacturing operation. There are a large number of MRPIII general purpose systems available today, at a very reasonable cost. There are also two or three MRPIII systems designed specifically for printed circuit fabrication.^[7]

Consideration of Advanced Technologies

The remaining 40% of potential performance improvement is contributed by advanced manufacturing technology. In applying the principle of flexibility to new equipment, processes, or materials, one should design the automated system to handle a wide variety of operations, not just one or two. And part of making it flexible is building into its requirements the capability of adding on new technology or replacing parts of the system with new technology as it becomes available. That will require being on top of trends and developments to such an extent that as we design the system for today's needs, we are also working on the needs of tomorrow.

I believe these advanced technologies come into use as part of a "wave theory." That is, the new technology is first picked up by a small group of "initiators," the risk takers, who may be 2−5% of the industry. By the second to the fourth year of this technology, the companies with reputations of being "progressive" have assimilated this technology into their operations. This group numbers 15−18% of the industry. The remaining 80% of the industry will integrate this technology over the next five to 14 years. By this time, if it is still viable, it will be common practice and knowledge. Remember, the printed circuit complexity factor will increase by 10x every 13 years. This is one of the driving forces behind the technology turnover and is a major consideration in the automation planning cycle. By checking how many years a technology has been out, you can place yourself with respect to the “waves,” and use this as part of your technology acquisition targets.

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