20 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2021
Conclusion
To consider all aspects of streamlining the
PCB fab process, lead-time, and lot-size reduc-
tion, as well as automation strategies, should
be employed. Figure 6 shows one of four ma-
jor automation projects in one PCB facility
in Europe that reduced lead time/lot size and
costs while improving quality. More exam-
ples of move time and queue time with digital
recipe set-up time automation can be seen
in the PCB007 article about the 2018 CPCA
Seminar
[6]
. PCB007
References
1. Wight, Oliver, "Input/Output Control—A Real-
Handle on Lead Time," 3rd Quarter 1970 Production
and Inventory Management, Journal of the Ameri-
can Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS),
pp. 9-30.
2. Matties, Barry, Bernas, Bryan, "Whelen Engi-
neering Reduces Cycle Time by Building a New Au-
tomated PCB Factory," The PCB Magazine, October
2015, pp. 12–39.
3. Stepinski, Alex, "The 21st Century PCB Facto-
ry—Designed to Eliminate Offshore Cost Advantag-
es," The PCB Magazine, June 2016, pp. 78–94.
4. Holden, Happy, "Innovative PCB Processes
are Lean and Green," PCB007 Magazine, October
2018, pp. 26–33.
5. Nordskog, William H., "Queue Control: A Case
Study For PCB," California Circuit Assoc. Confer-
ence, Irvine, California, 1998 (archived in the I-Con-
nect Technical Library).
6. Holden, Happy, "CPCA 2018 Seminar Over-
view," PCB007 Magazine, May 2018, pp. 66–81.
Happy Holden has worked in
printed circuit technology since
1970 with Hewlett-Packard,
NanYa/Westwood, Merix,
Foxconn and Gentex. Happy
is the the author of Automation
and Advanced Procedures in
PCB Fabrication and 24 Essential Skills for
Engineers. He is currently a contributing technical
editor with I-Connect007.
Figure 6: Recently installed bar code driven lot/setup automation for solder mask, hole filling,
and legend processes in printed circuit fabrication. (Source: AWP presentation,
CPCA Conference, Shanghai, China, Oct. 2018)
