Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1477844
16 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2022 Johnson: EMS companies tell me they are mov- ing toward soware tools that help them auto- mate their processes. ese tools look at the pricing updates, do a periodic check on pricing and availability, and send alerts. I see it emerg- ing in procurement and it seems poised to stay. I have also heard about EMS companies start- ing to work together collaboratively to share their inventory. DuBravac: I like your point about soware because ultimately, that's a key piece to the Factory of the Future. As much as people talk about automation in manufacturing, it will show up in soware-enabled capabilities that augment the human. When it comes to pro- curement, soware can play a vital role. If my distributors are all using a soware program, I can be talking to them nonstop. Automation enables a greater flow of information. Rather than doing inventory checks with my distrib- utor only when I need to place an order, if we had a list of everything I've ever ordered, I could be checking against their system at near constant intervals. It could say, "You haven't ordered this lately, but you have ordered this before. It's out of stock or it's got a longer lead time." Some of that already happens. For the larger OEMs, something that exacerbated the supply chain dynamics was having projects built into this ERP system, then you want to build a product. Let's say you're 16 weeks out from starting it. If you get an alert that tells you the lead time on a component for the project went from 14 to 18 weeks, you will place that order right away. For a big company with a lot of projects, their ERP systems are probably talking to each other. As soon as one person gets an alert about a change in lead time, the system pulls orders for- ward because it triggers everybody's ERP sys- tem about the changes. It helps other projects to know when to place orders. at dynamic exacerbated the supply chain constraints when shortages triggered a flood of orders. When inventory is tight, you want everyone to stop ordering. But it works in the reverse— when they hear there's tightness, they all jump forward. Eventually, you catch up with your lead times, you reach a more even flow of orders. e soware piece will be cru- cial, especially if we have a direct connection to our distributors and other companies that we're sourcing from. ose ERP systems can communicate directly and augment what the human is doing. Johnson: It could be said that it's a higher prior- ity to automate those planning roles in the pro- cess rather than the manufacturing floor. DuBravac: I agree. It's the flow of information that will improve the productivity of facilities and, ultimately, of their workers. For an EMS company, their profitability is based on the value-add of the labor, the value-add of that per- son. If they can improve when components are showing up, how soon they can start to build products, how quickly they can move through the manufac- turing process, and ship them out, all that improves the value- add of those employees and improves the profitability of the organization. It all comes down to logistics.