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Tablet monitors production line

Industry 4.0 in focus to boost competitivity and market position
Tablet monitors production line

In an attempt to fulfill the increasing demands of the market, the German government have initiated the future project called „Industry 4.0“. The aim of the project is to boost Germany’s competitivity and strengthen its position on the world market. The Asys Group are currently applying the concept to electronic manufacturing.

Asys Group, Dornstadt (Germany)

At this years Produtronica in Munich, the Asys Group plan to present a new type of SMT-line which is monitored via a mobile device. In addition, they are also aiming to have the Simplex multi-touch panel ready for some depaneling and laser marking systems. The Simplex concept is designed to considerably simplify the operation of complex machines.
Innovations and new technologies are playing an increasingly important role in the global market, especially in automation and with production in Germany. The German economy is supporting mid-sized and innovative companies, which despite the financial and economic crisis in the last few years, has allowed the number of workers in production to remain relatively stable. But how can German industry, or rather mid-sized businesses maintain this stability?
„Industry 4.0“ and electronic manufacturing
The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by intelligent data networking and the intercommunication between humans, machines and resources. This results in comprehensive production networking and utilizing CPS (Cyber-Physical-Systems), all system components can intercommunicate and therefore effectively control each other. But what does that mean for the individual? How can manufacturers profit from the project and how can it be applied to SMT-Production?
Maximizing productivity and line availability OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) are the primary aims in manufacturing. Real-time networking of data, machines and humans provides much greater accessibility to the available information. According to the latest studies at the Fraunhofer IAO Institute, cyber-physical systems in “Industry 4.0” thus provide greater transparency in production. They not only monitor the processes but also provide the user with information in a clear and easy-to-use format. Production processes control themselves and intelligent systems control the process. Experts agree that the manufacturing process of the future will be smarter, more intelligent and more flexible. But how will humans cope with the complexity of this concept?
The human factor in “Industry 4.0”
Qualified and experienced workers will remain the focus of the concept. Karin Walter, director of Corporate Identity at the company says, „As well as networking production resources, the human factor will continue to be the most important aspect of “Industry 4.0”. Mobile and intelligent assistance systems must provide the necessary support so that humans can control and master the ever increasing complexity of the systems. In this context, human-machine interaction becomes more important than ever. The challenge here lies in simplifying the complex operating procedures. This cannot be achieved by visual means alone but must be coupled with new methods and strategies geared towards making these procedures easier-to-use.”
The company has a department which deals solely with human-machine interaction, which is unusual for company of this size. „Within the company, we have a team of technology orientated interaction designers dealing with this issue as well as developing strategies and methods for simplifying machine operation, “says Werner Kreibl, President. However, this is not a new concept at Asys. With the introduction of the Simplex multi-touch panel, Asys was one of the first companies to introduce this concept into production facilities. Until now, the operator had to filter out the relevant information from an enormous pool of data. Using Simplex this information is provided in an easy-to-use and context related form. If operation procedures are to be simplified, then multi-touch is undeniably the only way forward.
Simplex = make it simple
Simplex is used to control and monitor highly complex machines. The user interface was developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts and the gesture based operation ensures fast human to machine interaction. With the introduction of touch-screens, input devices such as numeric keypads, keyboards or trackballs are slowly becoming obsolete. Simplex is already being used in the Ekra X4-SI and X5-Professional print systems and for the Productronica trade fair, Asys plan to have Simplex ready for additional process machines in the depaneling and laser marking fields.
The Simplex-Team at the company is comprised of experts from many areas within the group. This creates new impulses by ensuring that all aspects of the task in hand are taken into consideration. „Due to the enormous complexity of the systems, interdisciplinary cooperation is very important. Each area of expertise has its own team for analyzing information in their own specialized field“, says Bernd Autenrieth, head of software development at ASYS. This cooperation, as well as internal knowledge transfer, have been essential to the success of the project. The emphasis is not only on the design of the operator interface but also on how the application behaves. For this purpose, a team of experts have been analyzing various case studies and incorporating their findings into the project.
Trend towards tablets
Simplex provides easy access to complex processes and data structures and represents a new generation of operator concepts in the machine industry. Countless studies have shown that in the long term, touch-screen systems are the future of machine operation. Whether for private or business use, many people now take smartphones and tablets for granted. According to a current trend survey carried out by Interrogare (institute for market research), mobile devices dominate the private sector with a 70 percent share of the market. This is resulting in desktop PCs and laptops being slowly but surely replaced as the standard work tool. Mobile devices are also proving to be real multi-talents which are playing an ever more decisive roll in the user’s life. They are no longer only a means of communication but are being used for such diverse applications as remote controls, navigation devices or even game consoles. Thanks to the ever growing number of Apps, the application possibilities are virtually unlimited. But how can we utilize this in an industrial environment and where is the added value? The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) have been recently investigating the use of mobile applications in industry. The investigation has shown that the implementation of smartphones or tablets within a production environment can provide many advantages. For example, they can be used for data collection and analysis as well as for maintenance and machine operation. Consequently, mobile remote operation of machines or even entire production lines is possible. The familiar intuitive machine operation remains and location-independent access to machine data is also possible.
Mobile line at the productronica 2013
For the first time, at the SMT in Nuremberg, the company presented a complete concept for communication with machines via tablets and smartphones. Using an internally developed app, the visitors were able to use a mobile device to connect to the Asys machines. Here they could view useful information such as status messages or the machine serial number. The company thus clearly demonstrated the numerous possibilities for implementation of mobile platforms within the production environment. „The development of the Connected APP is an important step towards „Industry 4.0“. In close cooperation with our customers, we are currently working on a saleable version of the mobile platform and plan to present the mobile controlled line at Productronica 2013“, reveals Erwin Beck, head of product management. The basis of the project is an SMT-line which can be operated and monitored via a tablet. It consists of Vego handling modules and a stencil printer from Ekra and is also prepared for connection to systems from other manufacturers. The main objective of the project is to ensure maximum line availability by utilizing mobile assistance systems.
The human factor again plays the central roll in this concept. The aim is to optimize operator support and consequently increase line availability. The essential operator functions, normally only available directly on the individual machines, can now be found on the mobile assistance system. The devices provide the operator with a clear overview of all the essential functions for the machines within the line. Error messages are also displayed immediately, which allows the operator to react very quickly to problems, thus reducing downtimes to a minimum. It is also planned to integrate work lists and information regarding maintenance tasks at later stages of the project.
Productronica, Booth A3.277

Zusammenfassung
Um den Ansprüchen des Marktes und den steigenden Herausforderungen gerecht zu werden, hat die Bundesregierung das Zukunftsprojekt ‚Industrie 4.0‘ ins Leben gerufen. Ziel des Projektes ist es, die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Deutschlands zu stärken und die Position auf dem Weltmarkt zu sichern. Die Asys Group wendet die Projektideen auf die Elektronikfertigung an und stellt eine neuartige SMT-Linie auf der Productronica vor.
Le chemin qui même d’une idée jusqu’au produit prêt à la vente est souvent affecté de nombreux problèmes. Mais avec l’utilisation des bons documents concernant les exigences pour le produit, le développement et aussi la mise sur le marché d’un nouveau produit en font un risque mesurable, comme le démontre l’article.
Current Issue
Titelbild EPP EUROPE Electronics Production and Test 11
Issue
11.2023
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