Publication date: 08 October 2009
In the never-ending pursuit of greater efficiency and customer satisfaction, factories must have efficient access to manufacturing information, eliminate processing bottlenecks, get new products to the floor more quickly and respond to engineering changes rapidly. Increasingly, the manner in which a company handles its information sets one assembler apart from its competition. To remain competitive in this aggressive industry, electronics assemblers are continuously seeking new ways to improve their manufacturing speed and quality. To differentiate themselves from competitors, electronics manufacturers have turned to Manufacturing Operations Software (MOS) to make their manufacturing processes more efficient while increasing quality, and lowering overhead.
The applicability of MOS software within electronics assembly is very broad. It impacts virtually every function of the factory and even beyond. Put most simply, software is responsible for accurately and quickly converting design and bill of materials information into process, assembly, machine and quality information and sending the resultant information to the factory floor.
Companies adopt MOS software for countless reasons. Some customers focus on converting their CAD and Bill of Material (BOM) data into machine programs more efficiently. Others mainly seek improvements in their assembly and inspection documentation. Still others value its quality data collection and analysis, or paperless plant-floor documentation capabilities. In the most advanced installations, assemblers are seeking all of these functions as well as multi-factory integration, electronic approval management, and customer and supplier integration into their MOS network.
Unfortunately, many small and medium sized assemblers believe MOS software is a viable option reserved only for larger assemblers, but this could not be further from the truth. Scalable and cost efficient solutions are available for virtually any assembler to consider. Beginning with a small CAD/BOM conversion solution, modular solutions are available to grow with their factories needs. As one piece of the system increases efficiency, a factory can upgrade ultimately into one scalable system capable of supporting more factory functions.
Many sections of the overall MOS system are individually deployable. As discussed above, an assembler can begin with CAD, process and BOM handling, and eventually move into management automation and manufacturing execution tools. Below is a list of the main MOS system components and how they assist electronic assembly:
• CAD Conversion - Import both electronic design data such as Gerber or native CAD files, as well as mechanical CAD drawings. It is the front-end to the process to either compare new data against existing product data, or to establish a new product for introduction to the factory.
• BOM and AVL/AML Management - The automated import, cleaning, and organization of product data. This portion of the system also archives product history, organizes the hierarchy of indented BOM’s, and, in larger systems, bridges to suppliers beyond the factory.
• Process Development / Machine Programming / Routing - The application of merged BOM/CAD data to a pre-established process routing, the automated development of process documentation for each point in the routing, and the automated generation of machine programs.
• Revision Control - Once BOM and product data are fully cleaned and organized, this critical aspect of MOS software establishes electronic revision control over each BOM, as well as the process attached to the assembly.
• Management Automation - In larger systems, electronic sign-off systems activate to convey processed BOM and process information to parties in the organization who are responsible for approvals. Approvals occur electronically, and are traceable. Deviations (required changes to a product’s manufacture and/or content that in lieu of a new revision) may also be managed electronically, and broadcast to affected locations that are impacted by the change.
• Manufacturing Execution - This final, and rather vast, portion of the system conveys the “prepared data” from prior sections to portals on the factory floor. Functions include document viewing, product WIP tracking, route enforcement automation, on-line quality manuals, quality data collection, paperless repair points, shop-floor materials control, setup verification, machine and test data acquisition, analytics, reporting, and operator feedback to engineers. This section might also include bridges to customers.
Early adoption of MOS Software in the growth of an organization holds two benefits: first, the factory immediately gains the throughput and quality benefits of basic CAD/BOM conversion into outputs, such as machine programs and assembly documentation, even with a relatively small investment; second, as the enterprise expands, the MOS system will scale and utilize existing data generated from the initial modules. This strategy provides a gradual financial, operational, and cultural transition from basic MOS into complete multi-factory integration and beyond. Otherwise, if deployed only when the company is larger, historical assembly information is not always available, and the transition from manual data processing to complete MOS deployment within a large organization can be more difficult than when smaller, initial deployments are already well integrated.
MOS software can be thought of as a way to digitally leverage maximum value from a factory’s existing human and capital assets. MOS is unique since even-though it does not actually add direct value to the product being produced, such as those that would be obtained from assembly or process machines, it radically impacts both the volume and quality of all production in the factory.
Freeing time for both machines and personnel that would otherwise be wasted in a traditional factory, MOS software directly improves profitability. The increased speed of new product introductions, process engineering, and engineering change implementation, frees manufacturing and process engineering time, which can then be used to process more assemblies without increasing personnel. In an analogous situation, off-line programming of machines and MOS-based job scheduling builds more assemblies through the same number of machines. Finally, higher quality documentation, quality data collection systems and more accurate CAD/BOM handling, increases quality and reduces rework and scrap.
The best way to understand the impact of MOS in the factory is to follow the flow of design data through a MOS-integrated facility. As mentioned earlier, MOS systems are typically modular. It is not necessary to deploy all of the functions explored here, and conversely, this overview only shows a portion of the power a complete deployment would offer its users. Also, many functions can be performed simultaneously, making the overall throughput even greater than one might initially realize.
Generally, the first process undertaken in the MOS system is the initial importing of the CAD and BOM files. Once these data sources are merged together to produce an intelligent graphical product depiction, tools are used for the development of the process routing through the factory, complete with logical and nested decision points for quality checkpoints. This routing is the “backbone” of all subsequent functions, such as paperless system viewers, machine programs, final assembly points, etc. Virtually every point in the factory is digitally modeled so the MOS system is fully aware of the ways you manufacture product. The MOS system automatically allocates components to the various points of the process, allowing for user override, if necessary, balancing lines and scheduling job ordering and changeover sequencing.
From this routing and the component assignments to the routing, the software processes components destined for a particular machine into specific output processors for a wide variety of assembly, process, inspection, and test machinery. These processors are specifically engineered for each machine and generally emulate the machine libraries (or in the most advanced systems--use the machine libraries themselves) such that complete, optimized programs can be transmitted to the machinery following off-line MOS programming. One of the greatest time savers in off-line programming is the automatic correction of the CAD-to-machine angle convention. Some systems use offset tables for this function while more sophisticated systems are algorithmic and fully automated. Both types of systems correct this universal problem before the data reaches the machinery.
Documentation is then anchored to any or all points of the factory flow. This assembly and inspection documentation can be developed automatically through templates assigned to each routing point to fully automate the process.
More sophisticated systems allow the operator to assign specific associated documentation or files to each point in the process or reference the on-line quality manual held by the MOS system. This makes not only the assembly documentation available, but also supporting documents for that particular point in the process.
MOS software indirectly impacts profitability by increasing product quality, which in turn leads to more business. Larger systems capable of presenting process data to customers over the Internet improve customer retention and, certainly, satisfaction. These sophisticated systems also simplify and expedite ISO audits by making the entire quality documentation set, revision control history, and on-line quality manual and approval records available to auditors through a single browser.
MOS software has reached a very exciting stage in its evolution and development in the electronics industry. The development and convergence of lower-cost PC’s, Internet technology, general computer proficiency, and market demands have brought the genesis of truly collaborative manufacturing software. These systems leverage the resources of entire manufacturing enterprises to improve agility, quality, and profitability. Large MOS systems are certainly very impressive, but electronics assemblers of any size can benefit immediately from portions of these solutions. Deploying a scalable solution today will continue to reap benefits as MOS technology, as well as your company, advances into the future.
