Or, the search for roles with sufficient alternative components
For every EMS manufacturer, the configuration of the placement machines with rollers with a sufficient number of components is an important criterion for faultless placement. Carefully managed warehouse management can provide the necessary security here. However, the search for a suitable role in the warehouse is much more time-consuming if the customer project allows any freedom with regard to the selection of components. Then it is important to find the right roles by comparing the physical parameters of the components against your own database. The ERP systems used are often not suitable for this. EFA SmartSuite 2020, with its numerical and fuzzy search options, can immediately provide a remedy even for databases that have grown over time.
The provocative metaphor focuses on a central problem that EMS manufacturers have to face again and again. Are there still enough components on the rollers for the assembler so that the current batch size can be assembled without having to change them during assembly? Because every roll change during assembly increases the risk of errors, which of course needs to be minimized.
But if we are realistic, then the above question is often only one of a series of questions that have to be answered correctly during the preparation for the production of assembled printed circuit boards.
Often the first question that arises is the following!
Which existing roles in your own warehouse with sufficient components can be used for the upcoming assembly?
A reliable answer to this question is not as easy as it sounds at first!
If an installation location requires a specific manufacturer for the component to be assembled, warehouse management can of course reliably answer the above question if the incoming rolls are recorded and the consumption per roll is updated.
However, if the customer allows freedom in the selection of components, for example with regard to power loss, tolerance or dielectric strength, then a choice can be made freely from the sufficient number of components in the bearings.
The sheer variety of components, distributors and manufacturers makes it difficult to assign similar components, which can often only be achieved using the physical parameters. But for this, all the necessary parameters must be consistently recorded in the database.
Since most databases only allow textual comparisons, finding similar components is very time-consuming and often depends on the experience of the employees. The more employees are entrusted with maintaining the component database, the more diverse the textual description of components is often and the more difficult the search is usually afterwards.
As a way out of this uncertainty, it is better to buy similar components again than to use those already in stock!
Of course, this approach aggravates the problem rather than contributing to a permanent solution. Such a permanent solution requires more complex searches in your own database!
The search for the component roles has to be done by one textual Comparison to one numerical Comparison can be expanded with the focus on the physical parameters.
Specifically, the following search, for example, must be possible!
Search all capacitors in the database with the following physical parameters:-
- capacity = 4.7 µF or 4u7,
- Design = 1210,
- material = X7R
- tolerance <= 10 %
- Dielectric strength > = 50 V
With EFA SmartSuite such numerical searches are possible without any problems!
It is almost irrelevant in which textual form the data is in the respective database. EFA SmartSuite can interpret this data and then search through it numerically.
Even databases that have grown over time are usually not a problem!
The EFA SmartSuite search mask also allows numerical searches fuzzy searches, which can expand to up to 16 search parameters.
In this way, exactly those components can be found in almost every database that can be used as possible candidates for an installation location.
With EFA SmartSuite you can therefore determine in a very short time whether you still have everyone on the roll!
Did you know?
EFA SmartSuite 2020 can be downloaded free of charge and tested extensively with your data for 7 days without restriction.
Just get in contact with us and let the "EFA" convince you.