16 Mar TME® Manufacturing Execution Solutions Helps Leading Electronics Manufacturer Exceed Traceability Goals
The Challenge
A premier provider of electronics circuit boards was seeking a comprehensive Manufacturing Execution Solution (MES) that was capable of capturing and analyzing all data related to the high speed board assembly process. Due to customer demand and strict industry regulations, the company needed a system that could provide work-in-process (WIP) tracking, quality control, and component traceability to support their customer expectations and the company’s drive to deliver high quality products with shorter time-to-market. They also required a flexible MES system that could support custom features and interfaces.
The Solution
They contacted MASS Group for help with meeting their goals of high quality products in a timely fashion. MASS Group developed a comprehensive traceability solution by integrating TME® MES software with barcode technology.
Today, the electronics manufacturer tracks the production of PC boards via fixed-mount scanners that are tied to serial terminals. Scanners collect data from the PC boards as they move along on the conveyor belt. Test data is dumped directly into a buffer and TME® MES processes the test data prior to allowing the board to go to shipping.
MASS Group assisted in configuring TME® MES to collect data from their various proprietary equipment types. The detailed steps of the manufacturing operation are tracked, including the serial number and lot of each component used in the final product. The work flow is controlled through automatic and manual operations across 15 types of equipment, including surface mount part placements, wave solder, reflow and drying ovens. The equipment is integrated directly with the MES functional and final tests.
Inventory consumption information is captured directly from various equipment types at each production step to allow complete genealogy tracking for a finished product. At no time is the workflow interrupted during data processing. If the information is still in the buffer, data verification is made directly from the buffer instead of waiting for all the information to process. During packaging, the PC boards are scanned with a PDA to verify that they’ve made it through quality control before being placed in a box.
The Results
With TME® MES, the customer can track the entire manufacturing process, from the receipt of component inventory to the packaging and shipment of orders.
Most importantly, they can easily and quickly customize TME® MES to read and collect the test data from their specific equipment types.
- Improved overall quality
- Shorter cycle times
- Increased scheduling flexibility
- Reduction in overall costs