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December, 2019


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Automating Incoming Materials Processing Contributes to Implementing Industry 4.0


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tomers barcode if the part is being consigned to an EMS company. With several barcodes to choose from, which barcode should the receiving person scan? Which barcode contains the correct data needed for the man- ufacturing process? Any confusion in answering these questions can result in wrong data being supplied to the inventory and the manufacturing process, which could result in the wrong component being supplied to the line.


Unique ID Another requirement for auto-


mated manufacturing, and complete traceability, is that each component reel, tube, tray, or box has a unique ID. For example, a company may re- ceive 20 reels containing 5,000 300 mfd capacitors each. But even though they are on different reels, these parts all have the same part number and may have been manu- factured in the same lot. To be able to track each reel ac-


curately in inventory and through the production process the individual reel must be identifiable from the other 19 reels of the same compo- nent. Some ERP and MES systems already use the unique ID concept, and assign a unique ID for each reel during the receiving process. But many companies have older ERP software and still do not use a unique ID in their inventory control system. Recently, the development of


the incoming material station has addressed many of these issues. The station takes the form of a large desk with an ESD-safe surface and a large window located in the center. Below this window is a high-resolution cam- era and a sophisticated lighting sys- tem. Underneath the table, there are storage facilities to hold component carrier trays if automated component storage systems are in use by the fac- tory.


To receive the material, the op-


erator simply places the component reel, tube, tray, or box on the window with the barcodes facing downward. The camera will scan all barcodes, analyze them, data mine the correct information needed by manufactur- ing, and automatically print a unique ID label. The operator then applies this label to the component reel and the receiving process is complete. The unique ID is generated by


communication with the ERP sys- tem, if a unique ID system is already in use. If the company does not yet use unique IDs, the material station will automatically generate a unique ID for the component and inform the ERP and MES systems. The camera and software are


able to recognize, parse and store any 1D or 2D code found on the compo- nent. The software is set with stan- dard rules used by most component suppliers to label their products with available fields of part number, case format, quantity, bin number, date code, MSL, manufacturers part num- ber, lot number, expiration date, sup- plier order reference, a notes field, and even custom fields. Any nonstan- dard label can be easily read by set- ting customized rules as long as the codes contain a recognizable indica- tor. The software includes subrou-


tines that can identify even degraded barcodes. An exciting new feature includ-


ed with the station is “reels picture traceability.” An image of each com- ponent and barcode is stored in the database and is available for future recall for visualization and quality checking. This tool brings traceabili- ty to an even higher level and can al- so provide evidence of damaged or mislabeled material coming from suppliers. The incoming material station allows one operator to process many


times the number of components that a manual entry or barcode scan can process. Field experience shows that a single station can handle the work- load of four to five individuals doing manual entry receiving. This results in significant savings in labor costs, but also updates the available inven- tory information much faster, mak- ing it available to both planning and manufacturing. If the company uses approved


parts lists, a new software option al- lows the station to check the received part against the list. If it does not


find the part number listed as an ap- proved component it will not receive the reel and will warn the operator that the part is not approved. In ad- dition, the packing list/delivery note checking module option will auto- matically check the quantities and part numbers against a supplied packing list to make sure all materi- al stated has arrived and to recognize any excess or incorrect material. This option includes the installation of a second monitor where the delivery note information is shown as the


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