Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/745476
40 SMT Magazine • November 2016 Data collection in the factory is not just about machine interfaces and gathering data from related assembly processes, it is also about transactional events that directly affect the pro- duction operation. In part 2 of this series, we look at how Lean supply-chain logistics are an essential component of a "smart factory," and for good reasons, not least of which are the sig- nificant benefits that are brought to the opera- tion. Last time, we looked at how added-value is created by the normalization of data collected from all machines and processes in the factory, as applied to asset utilization, productivity, vis- ibility, and operational improvement. Whatev- er we each choose to call this digital revolution in electronics manufacturing, it is actually quite familiar for the old-school industrial engineers among us. It is not just "smart for smart's sake," because real ROIs are created that provide busi- ness success and opportunity. Does this ROI still hold true, however, when we look at material management? This is where the "old-school" could learn some new tricks. The term "material management" is proba- bly one of the most misused terms in the in- dustry because it has been applied to a range of technologies and solutions, from the simple storage of materials in a generic warehouse to fully featured and automated Lean material-lo- gistics solutions. We will need to start at the beginning, where incoming materials are received and logged into the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to understand the evolution of material management. ERP management is ulti- mately responsible for the whole factory inven- tory, and they will use material requirements planning (MRP) as the tool to order materials based on requirements calculated from the fac- tory production plan and current stock levels. ERP needs to decrement materials while they are used to be able to maintain stock level in- formation, which, in the traditional model, is as products are completed ready for shipping ei- ther to the customer or to the next significant internal factory process, referencing the associ- ated bill of material. by Michael Ford MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION Smart for Smart's Sake, Part 2: Material Management THE ESSENTIAL PIONEER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE