Is Your Electronics Manufacturing Factory 'Smart'?

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Machine tending – Key pieces of equipment within electronics manufacturers, including wave solder, automated optical inspection, conformal coating, flying probe/in-circuit test machines etc., all need tending. In many cases, these are then run through a pre-determined program or routine requiring manual intervention. Could a robotic solution be more efficient here?

Assembly and test – Arguably, this is the biggest opportunity for electronics manufacturers to start seeking out repetitive (dull) tasks. Basic assembly, fitting, and other lower skilled tasks are all areas to focus on. Raising more than a few eyebrows earlier in the year, Foxconn recently announced they were replacing 60,000 of their staff with robots. Possibly an extreme example but one that highlights how advancements in technology combined with a reduction in price for these kinds of solutions are starting to influence key decisions. So the question for you is where do you really need your skilled labor? Are they currently deployed in the correct areas of your business and can they consistently produce the quality of product your customers demand now and in the future?

These are just some examples – you should find plenty more when you start looking at your own organization.

Once you have collated your findings, it's likely that a handful of opportunities to make your factory smarter should stand out. You may even spot a couple of "quick wins", requiring minimal time and investment to implement. Any solutions that do require further investigation and/or investment should ideally be split out into separate projects and assigned an owner responsible for establishing the costs, return on investment and timescales for completion. And don’t forget to make use of the expert advice and support networks around you. Before launching into buying any hardware or software solutions, I’d recommend running your newly defined projects back past a couple more companies to make sure you haven't missed anything and your proposed solution is fit for purpose.

I guess now you fall into one of two categories. You have either proved to yourself what you already knew – i.e. Industry 4.0 and smart factories are the latest buzzwords to cause a stir in the manufacturing world and not worth any more of your attention. Or you are genuinely excited about what the future might look like.

The post originally appeared on the JJS Manufacturing blog which can be found here.

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