New tools for high-mix manufacturers: how an EMS firm cut NPI setup by 1.5 to 2 times.Ed: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/4149 Recently, software has been introduced to help make product changeover (programming) changeover - The time when a new system has been tested successfully and replaces the old system. , NPI NPI National Provider Identifier, see there and error correction ahead of first-article build a quick and seamless task. This software permits manufacturers to dynamically alter the placement routine ahead of first article build and enable product changeover improvements that can factor three to four times that of previous tools. With this software, each feeder feeder abbreviation for self-feeders. Used in feeding groups of animals at intervals of several days. Feed has to be dry and comminuted so that it will run down the spouts from the hopper into the troughs. is inspected prior to beginning first-article build (Figure 1). A graphic overlay (1) A preprinted, precut form placed over a screen, key or tablet for identification purposes. See keyboard template. (2) A program segment called into memory when required. and orientation marks allow the operator to adjust rotation and pick point independently for each feeder. Once the board enters the machine, the software enables the operator to resize Verb 1. resize - change the size of; make the size more appropriate size - make to a size; bring to a suitable size rescale - establish on a new scale or reshape fiducials, alter the lighting values and modify the CAD position as necessary. After feeder and fiducial fi·du·cial adj. 1. Based on or relating to faith or trust. 2. Relating to or characteristic of a legal trust; fiduciary. 3. Regarded or employed as a standard of reference, as in surveying. settings are established, the reference frame on the board is set and pad sites A pad site is a freestanding parcel of commercial real estate located in the front of a larger shopping center or strip mall. Desirable because of their visibility to consumers, accessibility, and the ease of facilitating drive-thru service, pad sites are typically sought after by can be compared directly with an overlay of the board to confirm part orientation, placement location and identification (Figure 2). File updates and edits are simple, and errors can be corrected as detected, eliminating the need to remove the board from the machine to alter the placement routine. For any component that causes vision failure, the software guides operators directly into the definition for that component, and edits can be made on the fly. Every change made to the program creates a file. Although actual time savings will vary by manufacturer and product, the following example gives a reasonable assessment of what one might expect when using these tools to set up a new product on today's advanced placement machines. Assume an assembly has 500 total placements, with 350 on the bottom side (of which 90% are chip components) and 150 on the top side (of which roughly 60% are leaded components). Three placement machines are used inline for this assembly. Using traditional software routines, the setup See BIOS setup and install program. for this particular board may take anywhere from 90 to 120 min. for the bottom side and 180 to 300 min. for the top side. In contrast, the same assembly set up using the latest NPI software takes 60 to 90 min. for the bottom side and 90 to 180 min. for the top, a product setup time savings of 1.5 to 2 times that of previous software tools (Table 1). David Garfield is senior sales engineer at Universal Instruments (uic.com); garfield@uic.com. Steve Bowen is process engineer at Benchmark Electronics Inc. (bench.com); steve.bowen@bench.com.
Table 1. Product Changeover Comparison
Traditional Software NPI Software Time Savings
Top side setup 180 to 300 min. 90 to 180 min. 90 to 210 min.
Bottom side setup 90 to 120 min. 60 to 90 min. 30 to 60 min.
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