Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1228683
34 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2020 Matties: Once you have this snapshot, then it becomes pretty easy to decide where you need to start making the digital factory investment ini- tially; then, you can either step into it or go all in. At that point, you're going to be doing it with some real intelligence. Reuven: Right. You are going to make smart decisions and put the robot that you need in the right place. Matties: Smart decisions for a smart factory. It makes sense. Let's assume that they have done this thinking and have their snapshot. The other concern is financing. This is an expensive proposition. What sort of investment by a relative index, percentage of revenue, or whatever the gauge is, should they be thinking about to convert to a smart factory? Reuven: It depends on to what extent, but if you go step by step, the basic investment is not that high. It's very cheap compared to any piece of equipment that you buy. For instance, to con- nect four SMT lines to get analytics and maybe do very basic material management is about half of the cost of one pick-and-place machine. You can return the investment in 6–9 months. Matties: That's pretty substantial in savings or costs, depending on how they look at it. When we talk about a digital factory, we have the idea that it's almost a lights-out factory, and that a board comes in and has a barcode. That barcode automatically adjusts the machine to whatever settings it needs for that particular job. That job runs through, and then the next board comes with the barcode, and it's auto- matically adjusting the equipment. There are two parts to automation: one is mechanizing, moving the boards around, and the other is process control automation where you're rec- ipe-driven. When you talk about 4.0, are you talking to that level, or are you talking data acquisition? and external customers. That visibility changes the way people work. You're absolutely right. We've covered a lot in this conversation, and we appreciate your insights. If you were to summarize for our readers what this boils down to, what would that be? Reuven: The best way to get a return on invest- ment from one of the Industry 4.0 pillars is to focus on collecting and leveraging the data in the best way you can. Matties: In today's world, data is everywhere; there's an overload of data. What recommen- dations would you have for prioritizing the data that you collect? Reuven: Start with the very basic information, not only knowing your OEE but also know- ing what lies behind it: utilization, availability, things about your material like your inventory turnover, waste costs, etc. You need to know your DPMO. Are you close to the industry stan- dard or not? Do you use the maximum capac- ity of the machines you spent millions of dol- lars on or not? Matties: You're talking about performance characteristics. Reuven: Yes. You can become excellent and improve your profit by asking the right ques- tions and looking at your data. The best way to get a return on investment is to collect and leverage the data.