SIPLACE Case Study SIPLACE X. Technology partner for Best European Factory. SIPLACE X-Series in Electronics Manufacturing Plant Amberg (EWA)

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1 SIPLACE Case Study SIPLACE X SIPLACE X-Series in Electronics Manufacturing Plant Amberg (EWA) Technology partner for Best European Factory The Electronics Manufacturing Plant Amberg (EWA) of Siemens AG won the title of Best European Factory last year, making it a role model for the factory of the future. Employees and management are justifiably proud of this honor and of the financial success of EWA. With continuous improvement processes in all areas and on all levels, the plant has systematically raised its productivity and quality for many years. One of the many factors for its success is its use of state-of-theart placement machines from SIPLACE. Other companies would have used the honor of being named Best European Factory as an opportunity to rest on their laurels for a while, but the employees at EWA operate differently. True to the motto He who stops being better stops being good, they have been busily reporting additional process improvements since They don t really have a choice, because making improvements has been institutionalized at EWA. Many departments use special tools and regular reporting systems, and contributing to improvements is an important compensation components for managers and employees alike. Our willingness to learn from mistakes enables us to continuously improve our production systems and key performance indicators and remain competitive against international competitors in a high-cost country like Germany, says Dieter Musseman, head of production scheduling at EWA. EWA predominantly manufactures programmable SIMATIC logic controllers, turning 1.5 billion components into more than 9.8 million modules each year. Additional output increases in the 25-to-30-percent range are planned for Page 1 von 6

2 The goal: 30 percent more productivity per floor space unit The introduction of the SIPLACE X-Series in Amberg is proof that even processes that have already been optimized can be improved further in terms of quality and productivity by deploying innovative manufacturing technologies. Prior to its installation of the SIPLACE X-Series in the fall of 2005, EWA s SMT production consisted of 15 lines whose manufacturing capacity was able to reach the required placement performance of roughly 1.5 billion components per year only thanks to an optimized organizational structure. To meet the market s rising demand, however, management decided to upgrade the plant with SIPLACE s help. The goal was to improve the productivity per floor space unit by 30 percent to a total of 2 billion components per year by installing the latest SMT placement equipment. We have worked with the SIPLACE team since the very beginning. I have no doubt that this was the right decision at the time, and things haven t changed. We benefit from working with a company that has a contemporary view of itself as a technology partner for its customers and that works closely with us to raise our productivity and quality through innovation just as we do for our customers, says Dieter Mussemann. In the fall of 2005, the project team presented a solution on the basis of the new SIPLACE X-Series that even exceeded management s high expectations. According to the project team s calculations, the output quantity of the five older S-20/F4 lines could be replaced with only three lines equipped with SIPLACE X machines. A significant key to success was the head modularity of the X-Series. Its 20-segment high-speed heads, the Twin Head and the rotating 12-nozzle and 6-nozzle heads could be combined so effectively that the results event exceeded the client s speed and flexibility requirements. From three shifts to two The upgrade to the new placement machines in the winter of 2005 not only saved two SMT lines and freed up space for future expansions. Since the previous output could be achieved in much less time now, the plant was able to eliminate the third shift, thus Page 2 von 6

3 creating a buffer for future capacity increases and providing the ability to handle sudden peaks in demand. As is customary at EWA, the introduction of the X-Series was not only used to raise the plant s productivity. Together with SIPLACE we are also on the road to a zero-defect production environment. Our benchmarks are our process quality, for which we have set a goal of 26 dpm (defects per million), as well as the out-of-the-box quality that our customers receive. SIPLACE X-Series: Targets exceeded For the above reasons, EWA s management was impressed by the X-Series from the start. The combination of a new 20-nozzle high-performance head with significantly improved placement quality and an integrated component sensor, new X-feeders with more accurate positioning and setup verification options and a digital vision system with improved component recognition and off-line teaching ability opened up new room for significant performance improvements. With the X-Series we gained not only the latest placement technologies for processes, but also the basis for 100-percent setup control with options for perpetual inventory management and traceability, says Reiner Thiele, the plant s head of production engineering. Our extensive quality measurements showed very quickly that we actually exceeded the anticipated improvements on the factory floor. For example, the plant replaced its SMT Line 8 (S-20/S-20/F4) with a line consisting of one SIPLACE X4 and one SIPLACE X3. With their combination of 20-nozzle, 12-nozzle and 6-nozzle heads and a Twin Head, the new line achieves a high degree of flexibility paired with excellent performance and quality. Its overall placement quality improved after only a few months from 41 dpm to 25 dpm while the actual placement performance improved by 72 percent. Only eight months after the first upgrade considerations, the introduction of the SIPLACE X-Series and the required software Page 3 von 6

4 updates were completed while the production kept running. Today, all major performance indicators of the new lines exceed EWA s ambitious targets. 24-hour shipment guarantee EWA guarantees to ship new orders within 24 hours. In fiscal 2004/2005, the plant achieved a delivery reliability of 99 percent for a total of 2 million items shipped. During CIP meetings, the plant s staff mentioned that one of the negative factors affecting its performance is the setup effort required to change over from one product to another. By introducing the SIPLACE X-Series with its new feeders and component carts, the time and cost required to make product changeovers could be reduced significantly. Now 88 percent of the total production volume can be set up permanently on the line a 20-percent improvement over previous line configurations. And the number of permanently set-up PCB programs even increased by 60 percent from 95 to 152. As a result, over half of the 280 PCB programs are now part of the low-cost fixed setup Page 4 von 6

5 Electronics Manufacturing Plant Amberg (EWA) On 9,200 square meters (103,333 square feet), EWA has produced programmable logic controllers and other SIMATIC components since The annual performance of the SMT section is currently around 1.5 billion components. Over 817 employees work in Europe s most modern factory (2006 award). The plant won this award in recognition of its distinguished quality culture, its long-term technological leadership, and its introduction and maintenance of a learning production system with highly qualified employees. Thanks to this approach, employee productivity has increased by over 10 percent annually for many years. From 2000 until 2005 alone, EWA reduced its average production costs by 54 percent through permanent process improvements, the use of state-of-the-art IT and consistent production equipment upgrades as well as redesigns and the global sourcing of components. The non-conformance rate dropped in the same time period from 50 dpm (2003) to 26 dpm (2006). Management and the employees constantly try to further improve their leading performance with regard to quality, costs and logistics faster and more sustainably than the competition a goal that could be achieved again and again for many years. Page 5 von 6

6 The Electronics Manufacturing Plant Amberg (EWA) of Siemens AG won the title of Best European Factory. One of the many factors for its success is its use of state-of-the-art placement machines from SIPLACE. Page 6 von 6