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An Integrated Approach to Traceability for a Fresh Start
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Applicable Industries
- Electronics
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Manufacturing System Automation
- Track & Trace of Assets
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
AT&S, a leader in the high-end printed circuit board (PCB) market, was building a new plant in China to manufacture integrated circuit (IC) substrates. They recognized that their new substrate production facility would need effective automated information flows to handle all of the data for their products. The systems in place in their six existing PCB production facilities were not adequate. These systems presented two related business challenges: efficiency of data collection and access to data about products and processes, and changing traceability requirements that require agility to revamp information sets. The current application set also presented some IT challenges. Other AT&S plants had an array of systems providing MES capabilities. These included commercial applications from the ERP provider, some applications developed on IBM Notes and homegrown software.
About The Customer
Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft (AT&S) is a leader in the high-end or high density interconnect (HDI) printed circuit board (PCB) market. The company has been growing successfully in the high end of the technology market. To grow and implement its high-tech strategy, AT&S was building a new plant in China to manufacture integrated circuit (IC) substrates. As semiconductor line widths and electronic products shrink, IC substrates are essential interconnections between processors and board-level systems. The growth potential is enormous – across a range of applications including mobile devices, automotive, medical devices, industrial, and healthcare. The advent of wearable devices will create yet more opportunities for AT&S and other advanced manufacturers of substrates and PCBs.
The Solution
AT&S set up a project to evaluate and select an IT system, and to model the new production plant and implement the software. It needed to be ready for go-live of the new plant. AT&S reviewed its requirements by conducting multiple workshops to collect all needed inputs from the business. Based on the detailed analysis, it was clear that they needed to go in the direction of an integrated MES. They formed a multi-disciplinary team for the manufacturing execution system (MES) project. The team included Production, Production Planning, Engineering, Quality, Equipment Management, Logistics, Control Engineering, Maintenance, Production engineering and computer aided-manufacturing (PE/CAM) and IT. This nine member team put in many hours, but was not dedicated full-time to the project. AT&S initially developed a long list of 16 possible software providers. The core team narrowed the field to four finalists. Those four provided demonstrations, customer visits and a detailed analysis for each possible solution and vendor. The main aspects AT&S rated in selecting Critical Manufacturing were: risk, functionality, technology, flexibility and stability.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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