How electronics manufacturers can automate economically

How much automation makes sense in terms of its return on investment (ROI)? Where and how does one start safely and methodically? And what real improvements can hardware and software deliver? Under the title 'Facts on Open Automation', ASM’s new series of livestreams provides answers to these and many other questions around the digital transformation on the shop floor.

It all starts on March 23, 2022 with a look at 'The 20/80 rule: Automating in a way that makes economic sense'. There is no ready-made map for the road to the integrated smart factory. As global competition and acute labor shortages in many regions are driving the digital transformation on many shop floors, they affect the efficient development of innovative products, time-to-market, and related competitive advantages.

But how much does it actually pay off to automate your systems? And how can electronics manufacturers determine in a reliable and methodical way the degree of automation and the schedule of its implementation that work best for them? With its new 'Facts on Open Automation' series of livestreams, ASM delivers each month a collection of valuable information, one-hour-long, with hook-ups to international SMT hot spots, interviews with experts, automation examples from real SMT factories, and much more.

The series addresses questions such as: Why automation? How can individual manufacturing processes be improved in a way that makes sense in terms of the ROI? What can software accomplish? What can hardware deliver? How does the integrated M2M and M2H communication on the shop floor work, and what about the vertical communication across all levels of the company? Laszlo Sereny, Head of ASM Global Learning & Information Management, hosts the English-language shows and welcomes proven specialists as studio guests. And during and after the show, ASM’s automation experts will gladly chat with viewers to answer their questions.

The 'Facts on Open Automation' series starts on the 23rd of March, 2022 with a look at 'The 20/80 rule: Automating in a way that makes economic sense'. It examines the concrete effects of automation of SMT production and explains how electronics manufacturers can use the Pareto Principle to invest in automation in stages while never losing sight of their ROI. “Automation is not an end in itself! Rigid ‘lights-out’ or ‘dark factory’ concepts rarely deliver the expected results,” says Alexander Hagenfeldt, Head of Global Solutions Marketing at ASMPT.

“Any transformation must pay off for the electronics manufacturer and improve his cost-effectiveness, his flexibility, and the quality of his output. This is precisely where the Pareto Principle comes into play because 20 percent of the deployed resources deliver 80 percent of the results. Each additional percentage point of improvement requires a disproportionate amount of additional expenditures,” explains Hagenfeldt.

How to watch and participate

To access the 'Facts on Open Automation' livestreams, click here to visit ASM’s YouTube channel. In line with its international approach, each show is streamed twice on the respective day: at 9:00 in the morning and at 16:00 in the afternoon. More information can also be found at ASMPT’s event website: https://facts-on-open-automation.asm-smt-events.com.