Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1510765
54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2023 each on a journey, from the analog "people and machines" world to a digital world. While core manufacturing knowledge remains important, best practices around the ways that things are done have changed drastically. is has made roles in manufacturing far more enjoyable and fulfilling than ever before. Let's look at some examples. Production Operators Being a production operator once meant doing a series of repetitive operations, pow- ered by muscle memory, and the mental ability to survive the tedium and monotony that high volume mass production entailed. As lot sizes reduced, changeovers in prod- ucts became more frequent, requiring more thought and effort to avoid mistakes. Assem- bly work was both boring and stressful, some- thing the human skill set can find impossible to perfect. In the Smart factory, the assembly role has become a far more immersive expe- rience and a key part of the engineering and manufac- turing value chain. Interac- tive work instructions have made assembly operations, no matter how complex or changeable, more dynamic because of their easy-to-fol- low instruction and refer- ence information. Using so- ware, the composed operator environment fits exactly with the operations to be performed, eliminating the need for specialist, inflexible, product-centric skills. Feedback of comple- tions, results, and interaction with engineer- ing and managers elevates assembly operators into an active part of the manufacturing oper- ation, with all the stress factors relieved or removed. Manual assembly in the Smart factory need no longer be monotonous or boring. Opera- tors are now flexible and dynamic enough to meet agile targets across a variety of tasks, and are the most flexible and reliable Smart asset in the factory. Production Engineering Engineers who were entering the world of manufacturing also found themselves unex- pectedly having monotonous work assign- ments. Within an operational factory, and with established production configurations and engineering practices, production engi- neers had little chance for creativity. e ongo- ing need to process design and bill of materi- als (BOM) data, re-engineer it to gain consis- tency and make sense, then split it out across the various processes within the designated configuration (creating all the different for- mats of data and work instructions, oen using little more than magic markers to color code prints), became over- whelming and frustrating. Even as their engineering degrees hung on the walls of their cubicles, they real- ized they had little time for the consideration of real engineering improve- ments, despite changing production requirements that addressed the need for agility. Initial engineering so- ware tools sought out to help process, mistake- proof, and merge product data from various sources, almost all of which came in the form of independently unstructured data. Engi- neering point-solutions reduced engineering lead times, the savings of which were quickly negated by the increase in product numbers and mix that needed to be processed. e potential for mistakes, both in the format and presentation of the source data, as well as forc- ing assumptions to be made without having complete information, did nothing to relieve the stress and burden on engineering, mak- Manual assembly in the Smart factory need no longer be monotonous or boring.