Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500520
40 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 at's correct. With all the integration of equip- ment, factories, and multi-factories, there's a lot of data. It must be mined appropriately to make the factories—down to the equipment level—the most efficient they can be to build a particular product or products. Gathering information, then utilizing this data to cre- ate KPIs at all levels of the operation, is what moves a factory forward with OEE and quality. It's extremely important. Johnson: What I'm hearing is that the positive impact to automation is a whole bouquet of small, incremental improvements. There isn't really one big overwhelming change. I would say the improvements are incremental in most cases. For most of the multinationals, it's more pronounced because they are more apt to afford these high-end equipment sets, MES systems, and the factory soware tools that are available. So, I would say it's a mix. For the small- to mid-size companies, it's more of an incremental step at a time. Johnson: Cabling up the hardware part of the factory could take from days to a few weeks; an MES install could take weeks to months. Determining how to use the data smartly could take longer. What do you say to pro- spective customers about those incremental changes? Depending upon the company, especially small- to mid-size, it's how we present the information. Is the equipment scalable? It's extremely important that the soware supplier can scale up to more automation as needed. In that case, companies will buy the hard- ware basics as well as the soware basics for an equipment line level. At some point, they will gradually start utilizing some of the line level and factory level soware tools as their prod- ucts grow or as their factory grows. e implementation of the equipment line level is fairly simple. A line can be installed in a matter of days. e line hardware is not nec- essarily the difficult part of implementation; the integration side can be more challeng- ing. In a factory environment, an MES system could take up to six months to implement, even when everybody is on board. Some companies have taken years, but those have ERP control- ling both accounting and other areas in addi- tion to manufacturing. An MES will no doubt take months, but the equipment level is scal- able enough for both small- to mid-size compa- nies, and even the large companies to scale up when they need a simplified implementation. Matties: Jeff, we certainly appreciate your time today. Your insight has been very helpful. Well, thank you. SMT007