IEN: What are the major concerns facing providers of assembly technology and related products and services in the next few years? How can they be addressed?
Zack: Concerns --
- Rise of China as an assembly-manufacturing center.
- Much shorter lead times to bring new products to the market.
- Present emphasis on lean-cell technology being driven from the bottom up, rather than from the top down.
- An economy turnaround where growth and increased product demand will tax the manufacturer''s ability to respond.
Solutions --
- Assembly providers will need to offer manufacturing solutions that can be applied in both manual and automatic system environments.
- Assembly providers will need to find solutions that can be manufactured in 12-16 weeks, rather than 6-9 months.
- Lanco''s development of modular systems makes it more practical to react to this delivery demand.
IEN: What innovations are in store in assembly related systems, equipment and components, materials, and software?
Zack:
- Plug and play machines are being developed. For example, Demco has developed a Wedge concept. Lanco has been building with modular components for years.
- More flexibility of stations and their use is needed.
- Software systems are becoming more user-friendly to help with system diagnostics.
IEN: What are the sector''s R & D hot spots?
Zack:
- The new wave in low-cost robots is quite interesting.
- The use of servo-systems in manufacturing solutions may take the place of cam systems.
- The lower-cost vision systems will impact mistake-proofing techniques being used.
IEN: Will wireless become more prevalent in assembly? How about the Internet?
Zack:
- If wireless I/O can become robust and cost-effective, it will be an interesting alternative. Wired systems are cumbersome and time-consuming to construct and troubleshoot.
- The Internet is a very interesting medium to service equipment. It can also be used to communicate with customers so that production can be matched against daily customer demands.
IEN: Will collaborative manufacturing play a role?
Zack:
- Certainly partnerships for either system manufacturing or product manufacturing are interesting.
- As you know there are major automation companies already manufacturing products.
- A caution however, is that companies will have to decide exactly what business they are in to move forward effectively. Collaborations can also create competitors.
IEN: Can throughput be matched to customer demand? How?
Zack:
- This is being done right now. Machines are being built that allow part sequencing to match production requirements on vehicles.
- The key here is to keep the operation and sequencing simple. We have seen basic mechanical color-coding processes be as effective as some elaborate sensor-based computer systems to accomplish the same result.
IEN: What are the challenges of right sizing?
Zack: In right sizing, if you mean designing a manufacturing system to reach the proper output capacity, I have the following comments:
- The first and second tier suppliers have to weigh the real demand requirements against the potential demand (promised work) to decide on the proper production rate to size equipment.
- Manufacturers must look at realistic machine expectations -- i.e. determine how many good parts will be shipped based on reasonable machine efficiencies, operator interactions, etc.
- Many systems designed for one capacity require extensive modifications or even duplication to increase output -- not to mention machine downtime during this type of change.
- Lanco has tried to combat this problem by designing modular systems that can be upgraded by simply adding additional modules to an existing line. This assures that new stations can be fully debugged prior to insertion, thus reducing time, risk, and ultimately cost.
IEN: Is Lean manufacturing making inroads?
Zack:
- Lean cells are making inroads for different reasons.
- True "lean" companies are using lean cell manufacturing to follow through a very disciplined corporate philosophy that has been established. This maximizes the manufacturing flexibility (machine utilization, layouts, etc.) to reach and react to changing demand levels.
- Lean cells appear more interesting when growth in an industry is minimal, as has been the case in the USA since just before 9/11. When a more normal growth returns, manufacturers must then decide if lean cells, automation, or offshore manufacturing is the best way to proceed.
IEN: What are the pros and cons of cellular assembly?
Zack: Assuming by cellular assembly you generally mean "groups of work cells," I have the following comments:
- Work cells offer the simplest and most flexible approach to manufacturing.
- Most work cells are semi-automatic: i.e. they require operator intervention to complete the process. This means that most work cell lines require more people to operate and are generally slower than automatic lines.
- Lanco has developed a cellular concept that maximizes the process equipment used on a lean cell by separating the manual functions from the automation. This allows the fastest cycle time possible with the combination of automation and manual labor.
- Cell lines generally require duplication when the capacity of the existing cell line is reached. This means that the investment is doubled, and more labor must be added. This concept of growth is a disadvantage to US suppliers due to the cost of operators.
IEN: Have you seen much progress in integrating the front office, extended enterprise (logistics, etc.) and assembly? Please explain.
Zack: Some companies have done well in integrating orders directly to the machine. This should save time, reduce paperwork, and minimize the chances of mistakes in ordering.