Vendor alliance results in Lean solution for electronics industry

Siemens Automation and Drives Group is working with a small software vendor on a solution that promises to make it easier for electronics manufacturers to align production schedules with actual customer demand.

In an agreement announced in September, Siemens says it will embed production scheduling technology from Factory Logic into Siemens' SIPLACE family of solutions.

SIPLACE is an integrated set of hardware and software that supports surface mount technology (SMT) operations. Adding the Factory Logic production scheduler will allow Siemens customers to incorporate the level scheduling techniques associated with Lean manufacturing approaches into their SMT facilities.

Factory Logic says its scheduling engine—which it calls Pacemaker—follows the tenets of the Toyota Production System. According to Dan Brummer, Factory Logic's VP of business development, the Pacemaker engine identifies the production assets that are most critical for keeping production lines moving. It then establishes a pace at which those assets must work to keep production in line with actual demand. Once that pace is set, all other production equipment works according to schedules set by the pacemaking assets. Level production schedules should allow fulfilling all customer orders without producing excess inventory.

At least one industry analyst believes a Siemens-Factory Logic alliance makes sense.

"Lean can play a big role in surface mount technology, so this agreement will help Siemens gain mindshare with customers, adding value on top of the automation it is selling," says Simon Jacobson, manufacturing operations analyst for Boston-based AMR Research. "For Factory Logic, it helps get a foot in the door, which is important in selling lean solutions. It's a win for both sides."

Dr. Tuan Nguyen, a Siemens director of product management, says the Factory Logic engine offers "a sophisticated way to react—or not react—to nervous demand patterns. Factory Logic has a unique yet straightforward way to implement the principles of the Toyota Production System."

Linking the Factory Logic engine to SIPLACE is expected to offer additional benefits, such as constant feedback on the status and capacity of production lines.

"Factory Logic sits above the manufacturing execution system, but below ERP," Brummer explains. "We take demand from ERP and level the schedule for the pacemaker asset on the line, or in the plant. We also send signals to the upstream equipment that feeds [parts to the pacemaker asset]. We signal board operators so they know what job is next and can prepare for it. We provide the pulse of the company."