USE CASE: tepcon optimizes cycle production
Small batches in mechanical engineering are always an economic challenge. At the specialist for processes in microchip production AP&S, tepcon demonstrates the potential of tepcon instructor in process-accompanying documentation and instruction.
Challenge
- Reduce construction time per plant and thus free up capacity to increase production output
Solution
- Easy creation of digital work and assembly instructions using tepcon instructor
Result
- Construction time for one plant was reduced by more than 50%
- 30% less rework time
- Significant increase in quality
- Higher transparency
"Specifically, the construction time for a CB III was reduced by more than 50 percent. The time savings more than doubled the output rate."
Few industries have been under as much pressure in recent years as the semiconductor industry. The constantly growing demand, coupled with global challenges in the supply of raw materials and components and the increasingly significant shortage of skilled workers are creating the most difficult conditions. As a renowned manufacturer of special machines, AP&S International GmbH from Donaueschingen is also part of the complex production chain in the semiconductor industry. With three plants, the company is a global leader in the development and production of batch and single wafer wet process solutions for the semiconductor, MEMS and microstructuring industries. With the CleanStep-Box CB III, AP&S produces a cleaning system for common carrier types. In order to react professionally to the increased challenges of the industry, those responsible at AP&S decided on a project to optimize the production process, the small series produced in cycle production. The objective was to reduce the construction time per plant and thus free up capacity to increase production output.
Step 1: Inventory
An in-depth analysis of the production-relevant processes identified the hoped-for optimization potential in the area of documentation of work processes. The established, evolved system of creating and retrieving work and assembly instructions as well as their basic structure proved to be an area with recognizable potential for improving process efficiency.
At the time the project began, assembly instructions were largely created in the form of Word or Microsoft PowerPoint documents. Documenting individual work steps in comprehensible instructions proved to be increasingly time-consuming in this form. As a result, static documents, also due to their lack of uniform structure, proved to be less efficient for use as instructions and user-friendly guidance for the worker. Moreover, despite being stored on a local server, Office documents were difficult to use effectively on the move. As a result, workers at times made use of simple printouts. Under these circumstances, it could not be ruled out that different, possibly even outdated versions of a document remained in circulation. Work plans and inspection records were also handwritten. Accordingly, a uniformly standardized creation process, release guidelines and comprehensible version labeling proved to be both demanding and time-consuming.
Step 2: Optimization process
Based on a comprehensive analysis, tepcon planned an optimization project with the help of tepcon instructor. With its support, the simple creation of digital work and assembly instructions succeeds. When used with a PC or mobile devices, images, assembly and work steps are documented directly at the workplace and explanatory work instructions are easily inserted. At the same time, working with symbols and color coding simplifies and accelerates the entire process of creating instructions. The structured approach also enables instructions to be produced based on the user's level of knowledge. In this way, less experienced employees receive detailed, easy-to-follow instructions, while users with prior knowledge can focus on details that are relevant to them.
In order to be able to use the potential of tepcon instructor in a meaningful way, suitable end devices are indispensable. In the case of AP&S, it was therefore decided to equip all assembly workstations or employees working at such workstations with tablet PCs. In combination with the use of QR codes on work plans, workers can now access the documents relevant to them directly on the move, without having to search first and without the document printing that was previously necessary.
The instructor enables a reliable release process and versioning. From now on, only documents released by authorized persons are available. A note on changes to a previous version is automatically played out the first time the new version of a document is called up and ensures a reliable flow of information, both in use by workers and in the release process.
Digital logs replace simple routing slips and can be made accessible to other systems via an export function and interfaces.
Step 3: Checking the results
In the follow-up to the measures taken, their effects were compared with the targets. As a result, tepcon was able to meet and even exceed expectations with the instructor.
Specifically, the construction time for a CB III was reduced by more than 50 percent. As a result of the time savings, the output volume was more than doubled. Despite the impressive increase in production, further progress was also demonstrated in terms of quality: With a minus of 30 percent in the times for necessary rework at the customer, AP&S achieves a significant increase in quality. At the same time, the tepcon instructor increases transparency throughout the entire process chain. The standardized, complete and easily accessible documentation and logging of work processes forms the basis for a continuous optimization process.
In addition to these structural improvements, the use of tepcon instructor shows further relevant improvements. For example, the comprehensive digitization of documents and instructions enables their simple translation into other languages. This also supports the training of foreign employees. Since the introduction of tepcon instructor, several new employees without extensive German language skills have been hired and efficiently trained for their tasks. In addition, a quality matrix has been implemented with tepcon instructor, which can be used to record the qualifications of individual employees and identify training needs.
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