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Telecom Technology Challenges Manufacturers
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
The intense growth of high-tech industries such as telecommunications has forced many equipment manufacturers to rethink their business strategies to meet the increased demands placed upon them by rapidly changing technology.
Kevin Cosgrove
The explosive growth of the telecommunication industry has placed many new demands on surface mount assembly - especially the placement process. How are the demands for increased miniaturization, higher speeds, tighter board real estate constraints, machine compatibility, quicker time-to-market and cost of ownership being met by high-speed placement systems that manufacture these leading-technology products?
Passive Component Miniaturization
Because of the extreme pressures to miniaturize and utilize less real estate, telecom products (cellular phones, pagers, personal device assistants [PDA], etc.) have always challenged and, in many cases, changed industry norms in both the design and manufacturability phases. Today`s new product introductions are no exception. Historically, many industries have considered 0805 and 0603 sizes as "pushing the envelope" for discrete components. In the world of telecom, 0402 has become the standard component size rather than the exception. New designs call for the high-speed placement of 0201s, which can be just as challenging to place as they are to be seen by the naked eye. The primary obstacle is the ability to reliably feed the components (with both tape-and-reel and bulk feeding systems) to ensure accurate pick-and-place performance. Because of the small size of the components, they tend to move or "swim" in the tape pockets, potentially causing problems. Using fixed feeder systems that incorporate a software option that continuously offsets calibration by measuring and adjusting the pick position allows the machine to correct itself. Turret-type moving feeder banks, besides adding cycle time to the machine, require accurate mechanical repositioning, which is often difficult to maintain because of the rapid movement of the feeder carriage. Feeder index cycles are equivalent to placement tact time; therefore, rapid picks are necessary to maintain the high-speed output of the machine. In addition, the possibility exists for the high-speed movements of the rotary or turret to drop or "throw" parts in an attempt to maintain its rated speed. Smaller, lighter parts are especially susceptible to this phenomenon. To accommodate for these variables, turret/rotary-head movement may have to be slowed down to enhance performance. With parallel placement, slow, deliberate movements enable accurate picking and placement. Overall performance is optimized and additional variables a
Component Interspacing Is Critical
Because of board real estate constraints, it becomes important to place smaller packages closer together. The challenge for accurate, repeatable placements in very close proximity to one another (sometimes as close as 50 µ) becomes crucial for success (Figure 1). The same rules relating to machine performance apply; fixed positioning, complete with reliable smooth pick performances, aid in success.
The Bulk-feeding Option
Because of the requirement of higher speed placement with a high degree of accuracy, bulk feeding is one option that may be explored as a possible solution. Economic and environmental benefits can be derived through the use of bulk feeding. Because of the elimination of a component manufacturing process step (tape-and-reeling), a reduction in the inventory space needed, and the possibility of loading up to 10X more 0402 components in bulk cassettes than tape-and-reel, component prices should be lower (estimated at approximately 5 percent). From an environmental standpoint, no empty tape scrap is accumulated and particle dust is eliminated, which leads to a cleaner process. Improvements in manufacturing results may also be achieved. Continuous flow operation is important - with the ease of bulk cassette exchange, the need to tape splice is eliminated, making the operator`s job easier. Parallel placement solutions result in more accurate component positioning out of the chute, leading to better pick performance of the component. This is the outcome of fixed feeder locations, in combination with the "pick" interval operating at a much slower pace (up to 5X slower than turret-type machine). Speed gains occur with bulk-feeding technology because the pickup location is closer to the front rail.
Interrelatabililty with Other Products
Digital transmission of "bits of information" has combined and accelerated growth within many industries, linking wireless medium such as cell phones with pagers, modems, PDAs and traditional computer products. Cable fiber optics, combined with land-line telephone technology, is now commonplace. The e-commerce phenomenon has led to exponential growth in the networking business, as well. Because of the dynamics of this "combination of technologies," more complex printed circuit board (PCB) functionality is required. Although the majority of products continue the drive toward miniaturization, a growing trend of using larger, "junk" boards is taking shape (e.g., in networking). The ability to handle all board sizes (up to 18 x 20" or 20 x 20") is another demand that puts a strain on placement equipment capabilities. The variety of board sizes and fringe components that will need to be placed, such as large small- outline integrated circuits (SOIC) and small quad flat packs (QFP), create a hodgepodge of possible process scenarios. Optimization or line-balancing software helps sort through the bevy of setup choices.
Faster Time-to-market Requires Flexibility
Product life cycles have been shortened across the board. In the computer world, introductions used to take place every two years; now, time-to-market is less than one year. In the cellular phone market, it was not uncommon for a handful of new models to be introduced by a vendor within a 12-month time period; today, it is commonplace to see the introduction of more than 20 new models in one year. This translates into more choices for the consumer, who now expects that from the moment the product order is placed, the actual building of equipment and shipping of the final product will all occur within a matter of days. Obviously, these consumer conveniences impact suppliers of capital equipment. Equipment delivery lead times that were once 12 to 16 weeks have now become four weeks. Both application and service support expectations surrounding these processes have been increased dramatically, as well. Not only are new technology windows being opened, but today`s design and manufacturing engineers (not to mention capital equipment suppliers) do not have the luxury to settle in and tweak the process -the ability to respond to rapid change is the driving force behind design. Capital equipment must rise to meet the challenge.
Cost of Ownership
Extremely high volumes have forced telecom manufacturers to consider total cost of ownership and insist on design for manufacturability (DFM). During this boom, approximately 100 million subscribers sign up for cellular phone plans worldwide per year; the estimated total now exceeds more than 500 million. Pagers and other wireless remote products continue to be in high demand. Although cellular phone product units have increased by more than 30 percent each year for the past three years, the growth potential is still astronomical - consider that less than 25 percent of the U.S. population owns a cellular phone. With emerging markets such as India, China and South America, lack of a usable land-line infrastructure will aid the growth of wireless communications.
Potential growth estimates continue to increase daily, but sustained high margins are a luxury of the past. Manufacturers must react quickly - often within shoestring margins. Companies must position themselves to deploy new introductions when competition or technology mandates a change. To handle the challenge, today`s consumer has become, by necessity, much more intelligent and savvy. In the "old days," manufacturing organizations measured bottom-line profits. Today, individual processes, models and products are closely monitored. Besides manufacturing efficiencies, underlying variables such as competition, product life cycles, technology trends and outsourcing decisions are discussed and strategized daily. Therefore, a high return on investment (ROI) is essential. ROI equations are commonplace and tailored to meet individual machine categories. Buzzwords such as cost per placement and cost per sq. ft. have made way for new measures such as true cost of ownership. Although some capital equipment companies make unrealistic claims as to the cost to maintain their piece of hardware, a more comprehensive snapshot must be taken to truly find the real-time cost estimate. True cost of ownership models may include the following variables:
- Machine/feeder pricing
- Real output - cycle time including board transfer time
- Efficiencies (refires)
- Scheduled downtime
- Unscheduled downtime (MTBF, MTTR)
- Maintenance costs
- Changeover time
- Machine footprint/output
- Number of operational shifts/real operational hours
- Financing cost
- Energy cost
- Depreciation cycle
- Floor-space cost
Successful manufacturing companies can identify where true manufacturing costs occur and, in turn, ask themselves how to improve internal processes.
KEVIN COSGROVE may be contacted at Philips Electronic Manufacturing Technology Americas, 5110 McGinnis Ferry Road, Alpharetta, GA 30005; (770) 751-4464; Fax: (770) 751-4450.
Figure 1. a) This is a bulk-feeding placement machine with a typical board. b) This demonstrates the demands placed on equipment by more and closer spaced components required by the telecom industry.