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May, 2016 Continued from page 20


tion reduces rework and scrap. Siemens recently learned a difficult lesson in poor solderability when it acquired another EMS company. Before implementing best practices at the new facility, $7,000 worth of assemblies were scrapped due to incorrect reflow.


Thinking Ahead The company looked for ways to improve the


time it takes to dial in an oven for a new assembly, as well as speed up profiling after oven changeover. The first step was to obtain prediction software that would identify the most appropriate recipe for a new assembly. With billions of possible oven recipes, the old-


fashioned, manual, “trial and error” approach was far too inefficient. Also, manual tweaking of the oven depends on operator skill, and tends to lead to oven recipes that are not optimized for quick changeover. While the soft- ware eliminated the trial and error approach, it still relied on running manual profiles. The company’s second step was


to invest in KIC’s automatic profil- ing system. Once the automatic sys- tem has been programmed, oven changeover is a simple matter of loading the product file. The system will then notify the operator as soon as the oven is ready to run the next assembly in spec. This way, no time is wasted. Running two to six manual pro-


files per oven per day for existing as- semblies, along with the associated production downtime, is now a thing of the past. Mike Siemens estimates that with seven lines, the factory now saves a total of five hours and fifteen minutes, which translates in- to roughly $1,000, each day.


Today’s manufacturer can no longer abide by the principle, “There is never


enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it twice.” Doing it right the first time is the only viable strategy.


In addition, during the produc-


tion run, every PCB is profiled auto- matically, and its adherence to the relevant process window is verified. There are many opportunities for the oven to drift out of spec during a given run. For example, an up- stream stoppage may lead to a tem- porarily empty oven, and then be fol- lowed by a wave of tightly grouped PCBs. Such thermal loading may lead to changes in the PCB profile. Other variations in production in- clude changes in the facility’s ex- haust system or simple human error.


Reaping the Benefits By using KIC’s equipment, the


company’s reflow quality has become more consistent and nearly free of any operator error. The client is en- sured a high-quality product, the company gains full thermal process traceability, and also reduces its amount of rework, scrap, downtime, and even electricity use. On aver- age, case studies cite a 15 percent decrease in the amount of electricity used for each reflow oven with set-up software. The investment in lean manu-


facturing and smart oven technology pays off in customer relationships as well. Clients enjoy flexibility in pro-


Siemens’ smart reflow oven.


www.us- tech.com


duction, prompt response and quick delivery of the product to market. The reflow oven prediction soft- ware enables a faster NPI, and the automatic sys- tem offers process documentation, traceability and


Page 23 KIC Gives Siemens Manufacturing a Fighting Chance


peace of mind. The company has even been able to plant a factory in Mexico to better serve its clients there.


Running a lean and versatile factory allows


Siemens to accept projects that few other contract manufacturers can handle. Part of the company’s strategy is to take on different sized projects, all the way down to the smallest clients. In the fiercely competitive EMS industry, the


old adage, “There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it twice,” has become obsolete. In the U.S. market, defects are simply too expensive. Doing it right the first time is the only viable strategy. Contact: KIC, 16120 Bernardo Center Drive,


San Diego, CA 92127 % 858-673-6050 E-mail: bdahle@kicmail.com Web: www.kicthermal.com r


See at NEPCON China, Booth 1G22


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