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www.us-tech.com
February, 2018 ElEctronic Mfg SErvicES
Smart Factory Technology is Not Only for the Big Players
By Vitor Barros, General Manager, KIC Europe T
ier one EMS companies are in- vesting heavily in smart tech- nologies. But, how relevant is
Industry 4.0 and the smart factory for the average electronics manufactur- er? The first question is why? What is the motivation for any investment and what is the justification? Any new trend or technology is
a means to an end. Before deciding whether to invest time and money in- to smart factory technologies, the goals and objectives need to be clear- ly defined. While implementation may
vary from company to company, there are sweeping benefits to pro- duction that companies of any size can obtain.
l
Manufacturing Perfection. In the smart factory, a much
higher percentage of products can be made right the first time. In the past, a broken calculator or digital camera was an annoyance. But, today elec- tronics are ubiquitous and we depend on them to be reliable and to perform, not only in pacemakers and vehicle air bag controllers, but in all things. Even when electronics are not mission-critical, companies still suf-
Technicians now have real-time production and process visibility through dashboards on authorized PCs and mobile devices anywhere.
tive reviews can be shared instantly worldwide. Mediocre quality can not easily be hidden.
We are entering a future of
mass customization, which is already beginning to negatively affect factory
fer deeply when their products are not reliable. Users have choices and the information to make them. Nega-
l Elimination of Human Error. l Lowered Production Costs. l Flexible Factory.
productivity. Production line utiliza- tion is becoming worse. The smart factory enables faster NPI and the ramp up to volume production.
l
Documentation. Interconnecting the factory dig-
itally allows process transparency and traceability down to each PCB as well as BOM genealogy.
l
Sustainable Production. The smart factory has environ-
mental benefits as well. These include a reduction of energy use, the elimina- tion of harmful or illegal products, and product lifecycle recycling. The benefits are numerous and
clear, but it does not necessarily help anybody to decide whether to make the leap to the smart factory. To do that it may be helpful to divide the list into “must do” vs. “want to do.”
Must Do According to Siemens AG, as
part of the second phase of its Indus- try 4.0 initiative, Siemens will require all of its vendors to comply with new traceability and documentation re- quirements. Because the company’s products include parts from these oth-
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