Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Revamp Your Components with BGA Reballing
Global Sourcing Spotlight: Balancing Speed and Flexibility Without Sacrificing Control
SMT Perspectives & Prospects: Artificial Intelligence Part 6: Data Module 1
Material Management and Control
November 21, 2022 | Davina McDonnell, CogiscanEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
In a market that is trying to catch up with increasing customer demands and quickly ship products out the back door, no electronics manufacturing plant can afford to lose any time or resources during the production process. Manufacturers are forced to do more with less and get the most out of every single precious component.
When you finally get your hands on inventory, perhaps after months of delays due to part allocation or supply-chain snafus, it’s critical that not a single part is wasted. While reducing waste has always been a big focus for electronics manufacturers, it’s now a top concern for factories around the globe to ensure the right material is in the right place at the right time.
Getting Control of the Kitting Process
One area fraught with the possibility for material mismanagement is the kitting process. Considering most PCBAs today use hundreds of different components, kitting the materials for a production run can be both arduous and time consuming. In a fast-paced environment like electronics manufacturing, if the kitting process isn’t controlled and managed properly, it can expose a manufacturer to opportunities for waste.
With Cogiscan’s kitting control module, operators are precisely guided through the material picking process with a detailed kit list for each job—listing exactly where the components are located, how many are needed for the scheduled job, and precisely where they need to be loaded. Whether the components are sitting on stockroom shelves, or within an intelligent storage tower, the kit list will define the precise location.
As every factory runs a bit differently, this kitting module allows for custom-defined rules based on inventory consumption preferences. For example, a manufacturer can set up the system to pull materials based on FIFO rules, to consume partial reels first, or to select and kit reels that have enough components to get through that entire job to maximize line productivity and reduce material replenishment time. Each manufacturer has the freedom to customize the kitting preferences based on the real-time production environment.
Setup Control for the SMT Factory
Accurate kitting is only half the equation to ensure the right materials are selected and ready for production. The other important factor is the actual setup of materials and machines. With Cogiscan’s setup control module, manufacturers can verify that all the right elements are being used correctly. This includes validation of components, tooling, and consumables, as well as the machine program.
Instead of waiting until the job is running on the SMT line, manufacturers can verify accurate setup in the offline setting. So, if there is an error found in the setup configuration by the system, it can be corrected before being released to the line.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the November issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Your magazines are a great platform for people to exchange knowledge. Thank you for the work that you do."
Simon Khesin - Schmoll MaschinenSuggested Items
ITW EAE Despatch Ovens Now Support ASTM 5423 Testing
10/15/2025 | ITW EAEAs the demand for high-performance electrical insulation materials continues to grow—driven by the rapid expansion of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems—thermal processing has become a critical step in material development.
Beyond Thermal Conductivity: Exploring Polymer-based TIM Strategies for High-power-density Electronics
10/13/2025 | Padmanabha Shakthivelu and Nico Bruijnis, MacDermid Alpha Electronics SolutionsAs power density and thermal loads continue to increase, effective thermal management becomes increasingly important. Rapid and efficient heat transfer from power semiconductor chip packages is essential for achieving optimal performance and ensuring long-term reliability of temperature-sensitive components. This is particularly crucial in power systems that support advanced applications such as green energy generation, electric vehicles, aerospace, and defense, along with high-speed computing for data centers and artificial intelligence (AI).
Is Glass Finally Coming of Age?
10/13/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Substrates, by definition, form the base of all electronic devices. Whether discussing silicon wafers for semiconductors, glass-and-epoxy materials in printed circuits, or the base of choice for interposers, all these materials function as substrates. While other substrates have come and gone, silicon and FR-4 have remained the de facto standards for the industry.
Creative Materials to Showcase Innovative Functional Inks for Medical Devices at COMPAMED 2025
10/09/2025 | Creative Materials, Inc.Creative Materials, a leading manufacturer of high-performance functional inks and coatings, is pleased to announce its participation in COMPAMED 2025, taking place November 17–20 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Jiva Leading the Charge Toward Sustainable Innovation
09/30/2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEnvironmental sustainability in business—product circularity—is a high priority these days. “Circularity,” the term meant to replace “recycling,” in its simplest definition, describes a full circle life for electronic products and all their elements. The result is re-use or a near-complete reintroduction of the base materials back into the supply chain, leaving very little left for waste. For what cannot be reused productively, the ultimate hope is to have better, less harmful means of disposal and/or materials that can seamlessly and harmlessly decompose and integrate back into the natural environment. That is where Jiva and Soluboard come in.