Circuits Assembly - February 2008 - (Page 20)

Program Management Maximizing Lean By Todd Baggett PMs are often closest to the customer and have the best visibility into areas needing improvement. Ed.: For the complete article, visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/ content/view/6020. aining significant benefits from Lean manufacturing requires more than an EMS production floor focused on Lean principles. Achieving meaningful cost reduction requires a Lean-focused effort throughout the entire value chain, which involves implementation of Lean manufacturing principles at the EMS provider, within the designated supply base and at the customer site. While many functions contribute to the result, the EMS program manager plays a key role in helping orchestrate that teaming, as they often have the closest customer relationship and the best visibility into areas in need of improvement. OEMs that implement Lean principles have the luxury of being able to phase in Lean practices throughout every aspect of the product realization process, from design to material procurement to production to demand fulfillment. Conversely, EMS providers face the challenge of a mix of customers with varying degrees of acceptance of Lean practices. Every customer wants the flexibility and long-term path to cost reduction that well-implemented Lean techniques support. However, not every customer is willing to make G changes to internal practices to achieve optimum results. Just as with production Lean implementation, the smaller the effort the smaller the result. Epic’s Lean manufacturing philosophy is known as Synchronous Flow Manufacturing. SFM focuses on increasing factory throughput by optimizing and standardizing production. Rather than optimizing the factory floor process-byprocess, it takes a large-scale systems approach. Key implementation elements include: • Detailed process mapping to understand key processes involved in transforming production inputs to customer-desired outputs. • Identifying constraints in key processes that limit flexibility. • Developing strategies to eliminate constraints, including working with equipment suppliers, material suppliers and employees to develop unique solutions for maximum flexibility. • Standardizing the manufacturing solution through common equipment selections, which further improves assembly process flexibility. • Developing simple tools that ensure rapid exchange of real-time information. From a teaming perspective, focus on design is a critical starting point. Optimized design improves quality and will reduce cost of manufacturing. At a minimum, a focus on design for manufacturability/design for testability (DfM/DfT) is valuable. However, a more comprehensive focus that looks at component commonality and use of Lean suppliers can generate even better results. ■ Todd Baggett is vice president, business development, at Epic Technologies (epictech.com); todd.baggett@epictech.com. 20 Circuits Assembly FEBRUARY 2008 circuitsassembly.com http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/6020 http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/6020 http://epictech.com http://circuitsassembly.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Circuits Assembly - February 2008

Circuits Assembly - February 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Letters Industry News Market Watch Global Sourcing Better Manufacturing Maximizing Lean Copper As a Viable Solution for IC Packaging Embedded Active Components for High-Rel Products Cover Story: XRF Equipment As a RoHS Screening Tool Tech Tips Selective Soldering Test and Inspection Process Doctor Pb-Free Lessons Learned Product Spotlight Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - February 2008

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