Publication date: 07 May 2008
Every C.E.M and electronics O.E.M will be aware of the many pitfalls along the way in the design, test and manufacturing process.
Speed to market, reduction in manufacturing costs and improved product quality are a constant in day-to-day operations, especially so with new product introductions.
By minimising the element of human involvement we aim to accelerate the process, reduce errors and provide detailed reports on quality and performance.
Itochu Europe now offers the Siemens PLM software for PCB Assembly, Test (NPI) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), providing both the product and on-going product support across the UK and Ireland.
Test is a bottleneck in the NPI process. eM-Test Expert helps manufacturers eliminate bottlenecks in their test processes and speed time-to-market. It increases productivity and performance by allowing clients to import CAD data and automatically create test programs for more than 75 in-circuit test (ICT), flying probe, X-ray and AOI test equipment and systems in a matter of minutes or hours, rather than the days or weeks required with traditional methods.
With its fast user programmable nail/probe selection routine and complementary interactive tools, eM-Test Expert offers complete flexibility and control during fixture design and flying probe selection. eM-Test Expert eases access on dense boards with a global probe offset tool.
A nail adviser evaluates fixture cost. Automatic calibration box generation, coupled with the possibility of interactive definition, speeds calibration box placement for optical inspection applications. eM-Test Expert handles variants of a same board and effectively manages attributes needed for test and inspection, such as device types, values and tolerances, and package and pad sizes/shapes, to further reduce cycle times.
The assembly process is often constrained by the fact that assembly lines are a mix of equipment from a variety of manufacturers which can lead to extended set up and operating schedules.
eM-Assembly Expert supports a wide range of manufacturers and their systems allowing fast and efficient process set up. Once the set up is complete and the manufacturing process is underway, output quality monitoring comes into play.
Each organisations' quality control procedures possess the same basic requirements. They are the collection, analysis, action, and reporting of shop floor data. Often these data management mechanisms are manual.
Manual systems do work, but in order to optimize your Quality System manufacturers need to implement automated, repeatable mechanisms for the data collection, management, and analysis. Manufacturers need a solution that will overcome the problems inherent in a manual system.
• WIP monitoring and routing control• SPC Analysis, trend and yield reporting• Inspection, repair and rework management• Automated and graphical data capture• Real time WEB based distribution of reports and alarms• Root cause data analysis
The system needs to be easy to implement, be easy to use, and work in harmony with existing shop floor procedures. It needs to be flexible and extensible so it can adapt to the changing needs of the manufacturers.
The eM-Execution Quality package addresses these needs, it is a powerful, automated data collection, analysis, action and reporting solution. Implementing the eM-Execution Quality Package will allow the manufacturer to model their quality system and then prove the implementation is repeatable – ensuring standards or regulatory compliance.
However once the product has been through the production process and has been packed and shipped to the end user, the manufacturer's responsibilities do not stop there. Products may fail in use due to a process or component fault – or even through customer mis-use/abuse.
Key to managing after-sales activity, and often key to winning the contract at the outset, is a company's ability to respond quickly and effectively to occurrences once the product is out of their hands.
Traceability can be viewed from a variety of angles. Product traceability allows you to have complete visibility as to the products’ history. This means that not only can you associate the product with a particular order, you are able to have a complete report of all materials that product is produced from.
This includes all individual components (mechanical and electrical), any sub-assemblies, and any repaired items. You can know the exact lots of material that were used to produce the specific product. A fully capable traceability system would also allow you to create associations between material used to produce a single product and all other products produced with that material and be able to identify each product by serial number.
This is a powerful tool when dealing with recall situations. Likewise, process traceability allows for the same types of linkages between manufacturing processes and the products produced by those manufacturing processes. Electronics PCB manufacturers and C.E.M.'s need a robust system to help them perform full product and process traceability.
• Easy to use• Completely automated with out-of-the box standard Traceability reports• User can also build their own reports to create “what-if” scenarios to evaluate the scope of the problem • Supports PCB and Final Assembly seamlessly• Web based for easy access to report data• Integrates with the manufacturers NPI tool for seamless data transfer• Relies on bar codes and scanners rather than manual entry• Allows for part number cross referencing• Verifies all steps of the set-up process• Verifies Material availability prior to build track feeder maintenance status.
The UGS software from Itochu is a very powerful tool capable of improving the manufacturing process and is already helping as number of C.E.M.'s throughtout the world. To discover for yourself the advantages and benfits such software can bring to your business contact Graham South at Itochu Europe.
Itochu Europe is part of the massive global Itochu Corporation, which has over 150 offices and branches throughout the world. Itochu is one of the largest corporations world-wide. Itochu is able to offer a wide range of diverse products. Siemens is part of the Siemens Corporation. Siemens specialise in electronics products but can also support a range of other diverse products.
Unit 2, Ashby's Yard, Medway Wharf Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RE UKTel: +44 (0) 1732 363003 Fax: +44 (0) 1732 367775 http://www.itochu-takaya.co.ukContact: Graham South – Takaya Product Manager
