Each month we’ll bring you an action-packed livestream with hook-ups to international SMT hot spots, interviews with experts, application examples of Open Automation in real SMT factories, and much more.
Why automation? How can individual electronics manufacturing processes be improved in a way that makes sense financially? What can software accomplish? What can hardware accomplish? How do integrated M2M and vertical communication work?
Learn more about these and other topics in our livestreams and get a leg up on the competition. Have questions during the event? Chat with our experts immediately afterward.
Host Laszlo Sereny, Head of ASMPT Global Learning & Information Management and his team look forward to your participation.
Next stream: WEDNESDAY MAR 29, 2023 09:00 CET live
The end of the line tends to be a productivity bottleneck. While roughly 90 percent of components can be applied with standard processes at top speed, those posing special challenges are left until the end: OSCs, THT components and LEDs, to name a few. In many cases, they must still be placed manually or with special machines which can handle only one type of part. Using concrete examples from practical applications, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will demonstrate that component diversity and standardization don’t have to be mutually exclusive. They will discuss what the ideal end-of-line machine must look like so that the processes that currently cause 95 percent of placement problems can be integrated into the line. The bottom line: Optimal balance of production lines, automation, standardization, more speed, consistent tracking, elimination of manual processes, and significant space savings.
Host: Laszlo Sereny, Head of Global Learning & Information Management ASMPT
Studioguests: Alexander Hagenfeldt, Head of Global Solutions Marketing ASMPT, and Rob Raine, Senior Manager Factory Automation ASMPT
From the Center of Competence: Kenneth Koh, Head of Solutions Marketing ROA ASMPT
The digital transformation and automation are the main drivers of Industry 4.0, from which SMT manufacturers hope to gain more efficiency, productivity, and resiliency. Are these pipe dreams or real opportunities? Together with his studio guests, Laszlo Sereny analyzes the concrete effects of automation in SMT production and explains with help of the Pareto Principle how SMT manufacturers can invest in phased automation in a way that makes financial sense and what Elon Musk can still learn from Open Automation. Enjoy a successful mix of hands-on examples directly from the Center of Competence and the concentrated knowledge of automation experts.
Fact box
Looking at the degree of automation under the maxim of achieving the best possible return on investment (ROI), the “Pareto Principle” states that 20 percent of the resources deployed will deliver 80 percent of the results. Any additional percentage point of improvement requires a disproportionate amount of additional expenditures and should therefore be weighed with great care. From an ROI-based point of view, a fully automated shop floor rarely delivers optimal results.
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Studioguests: Rob Raine, Senior Manager Factory Automation ASMPT and Michael Schimpf, Marketing Application Manager ASMPT
Direct from the factory floor with hands-on tips for SMT production automation: Alessandro Bonara, Head of Global Prefabrication & Electronic ASMPT
LEAF stands for “labor”, “error probability”, “automation” and “frequency”. The four-factor model can be the foundation and decision aid for SMT manufacturers to determine which automation step on their line makes sense and which doesn’t. Rob Raine explains the model using the example of a solder paste printer, and Jens Katschke shows directly from the Center of Competence the features users should focus on when they implement Open Automation.
LEAF provides the basis for calculating whether an automation step makes economic sense. The questions are: How labor-intensive is a task in terms of manual activity? How often is it possible to make a mistake, how serious is it, and how easily can it be detected? What investments (money, space, infrastructure) are needed to realize the automation step? How frequently does an activity or process step get executed?
Studioguests: Haithem Jeridi, Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT, and Johannes Lettenbauer, Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT
Open Automation combines seamless M2M communication with third-party solutions and the integration of existing systems. Essential components are open interfaces such as the IPC-HERMES standard for horizontal and IPC-CFX for vertical communication. In this livestream you will learn what benefits IPC-HERMES delivers relative to SMEMA in terms of equipment investment, line length and user assists, and what opportunities are available for retrofitting your production with IPC-HERMES.
The non-proprietary IPC-HERMES-9852 protocol features advanced M2M communication for board flow management on SMT production lines. It forwards PCB-related information together with the board along the components of an SMT line. In addition, the product itself becomes a driver of changes, for example by triggering automatic conveyor width adjustments or program changes. The IPC-HERMES standard also provides the foundation for the continuous traceability of circuit boards in an SMT line.
Studioguests: Jérôme Rousval, Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT and Stéphane LeRoux, Line Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT
From the Center of Competence: Jessen Cunnusamy, Product Marketing Specialist ROA ASMPT
Special interview with AOI specialist Viscom
Without real-time data and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), meaningful automation of electronics manufacturers’ shop floors is not feasible. But how do you obtain all this data from your SMT line? What data can actually be recorded and collected? And how do you distinguish important from less important data? Which systems and solutions support this? Using the example of the Process Expert system, we explain how it uses data from the entire line to control the printing process. We talk about solutions for the automated monitoring, analysis and interpretation of all relevant performance indicators – from the individual machine to the entire SMT line to the factory-wide coverage of all SMT equipment.
A prime example of step-by-step automation: Combined with the Process Engine expert software, the Process Lens SPI system becomes the world’s only automatic inline SPI expert system step by step. Open interfaces, protocols and AI make it possible to integrate third-party solutions such as AOI systems. In this way, the Process Expert learns from every single printing and assembly action, enabling it to control and improve printing processes entirely on its own.
Studioguests: Haithem Jeridi, Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT and Mathias Heinz, Line Solutions Manager ASMPT
From the Center of Competence: Mark Ogden, Senior Marketing Manager AMCAS ASMPT
From the shopfloor: Alessandro Bonara, Head of Global Prefabrication & Electronics ASMPT
The more robots, the better? You might think so, but intelligent data management and powerful software are at least equally important for automation that makes sense. The goal is to design and automate complex manufacturing processes as well as individual employee tasks with effective, user-friendly applications. Learn how the end-to-end Open Automation concept and powerful software get the most out of your SMT equipment and your valuable data, improve your productivity, and reduce your workload – and how you can implement your integrated smart factory quickly, easily and efficiently with a smart shop floor management system.
WORKS makes it easy to optimize and automate all tasks on the shop floor of an SMT factory. You no longer need to deal with a grab-bag of applications from different providers, error-prone Excel lists and other unproductive temporary solutions. With WORKS, you can easily install and expand the management of your shop floor tasks in each phase step by step – administered and operated from a uniform launchpad.
Studioguests: Rob Raine, Senior Manager Factory Automation & Process ASMPT, Anita Hager, ASMPT HR specialist, Dieter Weiss, founder and CEO of EMS market analytics company in4ma
“Where did everyone go?” asked German news magazine DER SPIEGEL in a July 2022 article about the increasing shortage of skilled labor in many industries. ASMPT host Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests won't have a generally valid answer either – much less a solution to the problem, which has become ubiquitous in the electronics manufacturing industry. But our experts will explain in this installment how you can compensate for the shortage with smart solutions and how you can relieve your employees from repetitive routine tasks that don’t add a lot of value. Learn how teams will be assembled in the future, how you can save time and effort, and what impact this will have on your productivity and profitability. Staff training and clever M2H communication will play critical roles in this development.
With the WORKS Command Center software smart operator can run their factories much faster and more efficiently. The application bundles requests from the factory floor, prioritizes them, and assigns them proactively and skill-based with sufficient lead time. The assist requests of the lines then appear as tasks on the mobile device of an available operator. The result is the efficient execution of assists across lines in flexible, smart operator pools.
Studioguests: Tamara Sites, CFX Business Development Manager at IPC; Michael Ford, Senior Director Emerging Industry Strategy at Aegis Software Corp.; and Thomas Marktscheffel, Director Product Management Software Solutions at ASMPT
Joining remotely: Detlef Beer, Head of Product Development in the SP Division of Viscom AG
Put an end to the expensive and labor-intensive implementation and maintenance of various proprietary interfaces for M2M and M2H communication in electronics production! With the 100-percent open, license-free IPC-CFX communication standard, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things can be implemented quickly and easily via plug-and-play and all manufacturing processes. Host Laszlo Sereny will discuss with his studio guests why IPC-CFX is truly the only interface you need for digitizing and automating your production and why ASMPT fully supports it. They will cover its usability, interoperability, data security, legal constraints, investment protection, and associated standards such as IPC-HERMES-9852. We’ll also look at the current situation in SMT factories and show how IPC-CFX can improve your communication in one fell swoop.
IPC-CFX (Connected Factory Exchange) is an industry-developed open international standard forming the foundation/backbone of Industry 4.0 and IoT applications. IPC-CFX is a plug-and-play solution that simplifies and standardizes machine-to-machine communication while also facilitating machine-to-business and business-to-machine applications without the need for middleware. With the support of MES, PLM, ERP and many other system resources, IPC-CFX makes seamless integration from the shop floor to the factory level and to the corporate or cloud level possible – including all the elements of a state-of-the-art IoT communication solution: a secure protocol for connectivity, secure data encryption, and data content definitions.
Studioguests: Michaela Wagner, Sales Manager SMT Critical Manufacturing and Óscar Martins, Deployment Services Manager SMT / Electronics Critical Manufacturing
You cannot have Industry 4.0 without a suitable manufacturing execution system (MES), the central software solution for SMT production that closes the gap between the ERP system and the shop floor. Host Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will explain why every factory benefits from an MES. You will also get to know Critical Manufacturing MES, the modular and comprehensive solution for the specific needs of the SMT industry. Descriptive use cases will show you how to get started, how long it takes to implement an MES, and what factors need to be considered.
The ASMPT subsidiary has stood for custom-tailored MES solutions since 2009. As a comprehensive solution that is advanced, flexible and highly configurable, Critical Manufacturing MES masters the big challenges in Industry 4.0, such as communication between SMT lines, automated material storage systems, inspection systems, robots, and manual assembly stations. It delivers precise real-time information about component consumption and features complete tracking and tracing on individual reference levels, as well as comprehensive setup and process control.
Studioguests: Rob Raine, Senior Manager Factory Automation & Process ASMPT and Dr. Marc Lakner, Partner & Managing Director Kearney
From the Center of Competence: Günter Lauber, CEO ASMPT SMT Solutions
There are many myths about automation: it costs jobs, is uneconomical for smaller plants, and goes hand-in-hand with a loss of control. In the last installment for this year, host Laszlo and his studio guests will clear up such prejudices. They will summarize the most important points from the preceding installments such as the unique LEAF evaluation model for financially feasible automation, the role of open standards, or the use of data. They will also cover the subject of resilience in detail. They will clarify what resilience means, why it is so critically important especially today, and how you can implement resilience in your supply chain.
Open Automation puts an end to rigid, inflexible and unnecessarily expensive automation projects. The modular and non-proprietary concept from ASMPT gives you the freedom you need to design your Integrated Smart Factory in accordance with your individual needs and on your own schedule. Talk with us or book your personal remote demo with ASMPT specialists at our Center of Competence in Munich.
Studioguests: Michael Schimpf, Solutions Marketing Manager ASMPT, and Alexander Nitzsche, Senior Product Manager Automation Solutions ASMPT
Material management is without question one of the greatest cost drivers in modern electronics production because of things like machine downtime caused by missing components, unnecessary material travel, manual reordering, or buffer capacities on the line that take up space. If you take the right steps, however, the potential improvements are huge. In this edition of Facts on Open Automation, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will focus on optimizing the flow of materials. The experts will cover aspects such as material planning, quality management, tracking, and counterfeit components. They will remove misconceptions, get to the bottom of problems, and use practical examples to demonstrate how seamless internal logistics can function with the new time-based WORKS software module.
WORKS Material Demand Calculation uses planned and actual material consumption data to dynamically compute and continuously update the line’s material needs. The resulting information forms the basis for the automatic control and optimization of material flows, demand messages to central and intermediate storage locations, and time-driven transport jobs. The bottom line: the material is ready whenever and wherever it is needed.
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Studioguests: Wolfgang Eisner, Senior Manager SMT Customized Applications ASMPT, and Jetulla Avdili, Senior Product Manager Placement Solutions ASMPT
Joining remotely: Wojciech Torczyński, COO Printor Electronic Manufacturing
SIPLACE SX and TX – the pinnacle in flexibility for end-of-line placements solve your end-of-line problems with high-end vision systems for precise 3D measurements for things like pin 1 detection, the snap-in detection of connectors, and pre- and post-placement inspections. They feature placement forces of up to 100 N, unequaled diversity of nozzles and grippers, automatic clinching, and a whole lot more. The latest option is the SIPLACE Tray Unit on the SIPLACE TX for rapid tray refills.
Studioguests: Thomas Marktscheffel, Director Product Management Software Solutions ASMPT
Joining remotely: Axel Lindloff, Senior Process Specialist Koh Young
Where in the past several operators were responsible for an SMT line, today often only one operator remains who must keep the entire line running, replace stencils on the solder paste printer according to customer specifications and ensure timely material replenishment at the placement machines – all while keeping an eye on key performance indicators. Multitasking and process know-how are in demand, and emergencies are not uncommon.
In this show, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will discuss how software can support the operating staff via smart devices and a remote cockpit as well as how it can efficiently manage assistance requests in accordance with operator qualifications and task priorities. They will demonstrate how powerful expert software in combination with SPI and AOI systems ensures autonomous process optimization along the entire SMT line and relieves operators of quality assurance.
Autonomous process optimization for the Integrated Smart Factory according to ASMPT’s Open Automation concept – easy to retrofit, vendor-independent, and along the whole SMT line. With the WORKS Process Expert software, you can upgrade your SPI system to the world’s first self-learning inline expert system for optimizing your printing process. In combination with AOI systems, WORKS Process Expert now also provides autonomous and seamless quality assurance for your placement process.
It detects and instantly rectifies errors and manufacturing defects at an early stage while relieving the operating staff.
Studioguests: Phillip Read, Director Service Engineering ASMPT, and Olimpiu-Petru Datcu, Senior Manager Software Engineering Cloud ASMPT
As the digital transformation advances, knowledge is becoming an increasingly critical resource. Whether as a result of demographic change or the rising willingness to change employers, when people leave they take their know-how and their experience with them. Information becomes obsolete much more rapidly today while processes are becoming more complex and dynamic than just a few years ago. “New work” also poses challenges, as does the onboarding of new people. And as headcounts shrink, the operating and service staff must work with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
This installment of ‘Facts on Open Automation’ will focus on the question how valuable knowledge can be gained, shared with teams, and maintained within the company. Among other things, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will present the browser-based Virtual Assist app and demonstrate how artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) can provide service teams with quick and easy support when they search for and troubleshoot errors on the line.
The Virtual Assist intelligent assistance system provides employees with a vendor-independent knowledge platform that allows them to meet the many challenges in electronics manufacturing. Using AI and NLP, the application grows with the experience of its users. It offers intelligent assistance for efficient troubleshooting, full transparency for service activities on the equipment, and instant access to all relevant information via a single user interface – all by simply asking it questions.
The intelligent system continuously learns and shares its knowledge with your teams. This speeds up the feedback process and shortens the training period for employees.
Studioguests: Mathias Heinz, Product Manager Placement Solutions, ASMPT, and Oliver Kraus, Sales Manager Digital Products, ASMPT
From the Center of Competence: Eric Kirschner, Senior Product Manager Placement Solutions, ASMPT
Joining remotely: Erik Hupjé, Managing Director, Road to Reliability
Production and maintenance planning are closely interwoven in SMT manufacturing. Prudent and careful production planning ensures that sufficient employees and materials are available and that regular time slots are provided for the maintenance of machines so that orders can be produced efficiently. At the same time, proper maintenance planning can ensure that the factory equipment is always ready for use, thus maximizing production time.
So far, so good – in theory. But what if unexpected changes in demand, delivery problems, machine downtime or staff absences make the carefully prepared plan obsolete? That’s when you need to be able to react and respond quickly if you want to maintain your production efficiency and quality. In this show, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests discuss how electronics manufacturers use powerful software applications to develop an agile and flexible planning strategy that enables them to react quickly to unexpected events and achieve their goals in a dynamic environment.
With Factory Equipment Center from ASMPT, a scalable software application for enterprise-wide asset and maintenance management with a central maintenance calendar, you can easily reconcile agile production planning with all necessary maintenance operations. Planning, time- and usage-based controlling, support and the execution and documentation of maintenance and service operations are managed centrally for all your production equipment, including machines from other manufacturers and non-SMT production equipment.
Studioguests: Rick Goldsmith, Director Product Management ASMPT, and Martin Moggeridge, Product Manager ASMPT
The solder paste printing process is rightly considered to be the most demanding step in SMT production. Stencils, paste, squeegees and tooling are indispensable. What at first seemed very craftsman-like has become state-of-the-art technology for maximum speed and production volumes in modern SMT production. And although large quantities of PCBs are often produced at very high speeds, the process must comply with the highest precision requirements – despite the fact that it is confronted with a number of difficulties: the components and PCBs can have different dimensions, tolerances and surface properties while the handling of solder pastes, cleaning materials such as fabrics and solvents poses additional challenges in terms of both automation and environmental compatibility.
In this edition of Facts on Open Automation, Laszlo Sereny and his studio guests will shed light on how this critical and complex production process can be flexibly supported by intelligent automation options with a multitude of custom-tailored tools and solutions, and how quality and environmental awareness can go hand in hand with a sustainable approach to manufacturing.
Super-fast, highly precise, and a real space-saver – that’s the DEK TQ L for board sizes of up to 600 × 510 millimeters. New three-stage conveyors, the unique ASMPT NuMotion controller with fiber-optic cabling and up to 50 percent faster cleaning processes guarantee high-speed operation. New drives, off-belt printing and innovative clamping systems deliver unprecedented accuracy and an exceptionally stable printing process. With its Dual Access Cover for hot-swapping paste cartridges, automatic Smart Pin Support and a series of more smart features, the DEL TQ L runs on average for more than eight hours without a single operator assist.
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Studioguests: Alfred Pammer, Head of Sales and Marketing cts, and Rob Raine, Senior Product Manager Automation Solutions ASMPT
On site at cts: Erwin Beck, Director Product Management Automation Solutions ASMPT
What happens when two proven experts in their respective fields join forces, such as ASMPT, the global innovation and technology leader with the deepest and most comprehensive process know-how in SMT manufacturing, and cts, the expert in innovative automation solutions with many years of experience in industrial intralogistics and production logistics?
You get field-tested turnkey solutions for the intelligent deployment of AMR fleets and storage solutions on the SMT shopfloor that make the employees’ work easier and optimize the flow of materials. With a single AMR type, all material handling tasks arising in SMT production can be carried out in a highly efficient and effective manner – from the storage and transport of printed circuit boards for automated loading and unloading to the delivery of stencils and cleaning materials for the solder paste printer, to the supply and removal of component reels, trays or other small-parts carriers for the placement machines. And best of all, all AMRs can be controlled easily and conveniently via the same software.
In this show, Laszlo Sereny and his guests from ASMPT and cts will demonstrate what this looks like in practice.
For cts, which was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in the Bavarian town of Burgkirchen, this is not just a slogan. More than 350 employees at several locations develop innovative solutions for customers from a wide range of industries. cts’s stationary and mobile robots (AMRs) are used in the automotive, electronics, semiconductor, medical and other high-tech industries. ASMPT and cts have been partners for many years. Their joint projects in the development of solutions for optimized material flows on the SMT shopfloor focus on the financially feasible automation of storage systems and material flows that make the deployment of personnel more effective.
Your personal live presentation
Would you like to receive more detailed information about Open Automation and the way it can advance your particular production? Take advantage of an ASMPT Remote Demo, your personal and customized live presentation with specialists from the global CoCs, which you can view from the comfort of your desk.
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Information and knowledge on demand
Are you familiar with the on-demand part of our Productronica 2021 presence? Our extensive media library features all broadcasts from the ASMPT Productronica studio with lots of interviews and information about Open Automation. You also have access to many videos, documents, presentations, training materials and much more. Discover how ASMPT’s smart hardware and software solutions pave the way to your integrated smart factory.
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