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September 2016 • The PCB Magazine 75 Delivery as Soon as Needed For high-volume, by eliminating queues, waits and delays, with a JIT flow process (total 38 steps), the Whelen automation can do lot sizes of three panels to lots of 50−100. As seen in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4, there are numerous queue spots in the standard multilayer fabrication pro- cesses (a total of 112 steps) where a panel or lot of panels may be held (sometimes for hours or days). By eliminating 66% of the process steps the Whelen outer-layer process takes only 105 minutes from drill to final fabrication, instead of days or weeks. Standardizing the processes from image through etch allowed the automa- tion of these processes into one continuous pro- cess for both innerlayers and outer layers. Six-Sigma Quality Goals— Continuous Improvements The high degree of automation eliminated handling and opportunities for defects as well as oxide growth and contaminations. The re- sulting process has an astoundingly high yield with very low labor. Lean waste in the form of water treatment is shown in Table 6 along with the ROI for the capital investments. Some Figure 3: a) Fresh chemicals represent only 40% of the total chemical systems costs; b) automatic chemical dosing stations for processes; c) continuous monitoring and dosing allows the lowest level of operating chemical concentrations. [7] LEAN MANUFACTURING