March, 2018
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Page 77 Transitioning the Factory from “Smart” to “Intelligent” Continued from previous page
a single storage unit, depending on the duty cycle of the unit. This also allows the parts counter to be used around the factory during the day, then dock and spend the night count- ing reels.
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) prom-
ises to forever change how we manage the SMT factory. To better understand AI, imagine this simple example. Imagine a black box with one input and one output. The input is X and the output is Y. Unfortunately we do not know what is in the black box, but we can see the input and output. If we input 2, the output is 4. If we input 0,
chase after people — either low-cost labor or high-cost talent. The intelli- gent factory, on the other hand, will need only a small number of quali- fied people to run it. As a result, com- panies will have the freedom to opti- mize the location of their factories as a function of production costs. Energy and transportation
costs will likely be key decision parameters. It might be common to find such factories unplugged from the power grid — running on their own generated power — and located near major transportation hubs. These factories will likely be large, windowless cement buildings with numerous loading docks. Less like
what an SMT factory looks like today, and more like what a FedEx distribution hub looks like. We also foresee “verticalization”
of the intelligent factory. This means that we should see semiconductor packaging happening on the SMT floor. Flip-chip and wirebonding machines, today usually found only at advanced packaging companies, will be a common sight in the intelli- gent factory. Instead of buying pack- aged components, SMT factories will acquire wafers from the foundry or its distributors. These wafers will be fully tested at the foundry prior to assembly. Instead of storing full com- ponents on reels, most active compo-
nents will be stored as wafers and packaged as needed to fulfill produc- tion requirements. These technologies and process-
es combine to create a seamless and organized production environment that needs no human interference. AI will be able to run the intelligent factory far better than we ever could. While radical, these changes are also inevitable. The race for optimization has only just begun. Contact: Creative Electron, Inc.,
253 Pawnee Street, San Marcos, CA 92078 % 760-752-1192 fax: 760-752-1196 E-mail:
info@creativeelectron.com Web:
www.creativeelectron.com r
Creative Electron’s mobile TruView X-ray parts counter.
the output is 0. If we input –5, we get –10, and so on. It does not take long to realize
that the black box is multiplying the input by 2 and outputting the result. That is our natural intelligence at work. Now imagine designing an algorithm that figures out that black box automatically. That is AI. Imagine X represents all the
materials entering our factory and Y is the finished product. In other words, our factory is the black box that the AI must solve for. As humans, we will program input and output parame- ters, defining what materials and products are good or bad. Initially, the AI engine will need
to be closely supervised, especially as it learns how to manage the factory. As the engine matures, we will begin to see continuous improvements to line efficiency. Ordering will be done optimally, minimizing the size and cost of inventory, materials on the line will be evaluated and scrutinized on- the-fly as they are received, and the SMT line will be configured to maxi- mum efficiency. Problems will be diag- nosed and fixed in real-time before they can propagate throughout the line. Redundancy with stacked SMT lines will allow the intelligent factory to run 24/7/365. The enabling technologies
described here are a few of the many pieces needed to realize the intelli- gent factory. This factory will look much different than the smart facto- ries of today. For instance, the loca- tion of these future factories will be decided based on a different set of parameters.
Depending on the sophistication of their products, factories today
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