Feeder Arrangement Optimization for Component Mounting Lanes
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Solution Overview
Problem
In component mounting machines with two lanes and two heads, optimizing feeder arrangement and component mounting order to minimize production time for one lane often results in increased production time and reduced productivity for the other lane, especially when circuit boards are conveyed in the same direction, leading to human error and increased equipment costs due to the need for board inverting devices.
Innovation Solution
A production management process that uses a production management computer to optimize feeder arrangement and component mounting order for both lanes to minimize production time differences, allowing operation with a single set of NC data and eliminating the need for a board inverting device by aligning feeders and mounting heads to match circuit board orientations, enabling balanced production without inverting devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If feeder arrangement and component mounting order are optimized to minimize production time for one lane, then production time for that lane is reduced, but production time for the other lane increases and productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows asymmetric feeder arrangements and component mounting orders for each lane, enabling independent optimization of production parameters for lane 1 and lane 2. This means that the feeder positions and mounting sequences can be tailored to the specific requirements and orientations of each lane, rather than forcing a symmetric configuration that would compromise overall productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts feeder arrangements and component mounting orders based on the selected production mode and lane orientation. By making these parameters variable rather than fixed, the system can adapt to different operational requirements and optimize performance for each lane independently, resolving the contradiction between minimizing time for one lane and maintaining productivity across both lanes.
2Ease of operation
If feeders of two lanes are arranged in the same manner and one set of NC data is used to control both lanes, then setup work is simplified and human errors are reduced, but production time of the other lane increases when optimizing for one lane
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the control data into lane-specific NC data files, allowing independent optimization of feeder arrangements and component mounting orders for each lane. This segmentation enables asymmetric configurations for each lane while maintaining separate, optimized production parameters, thus avoiding the productivity loss that would result from using a single symmetric NC data set for both lanes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains a universal framework for managing multiple lanes with a common interface and control structure, while allowing lane-specific optimizations through separate NC data files. This multi-functionality enables the system to handle both symmetric and asymmetric configurations, providing ease of operation through standardized control while accommodating lane-specific production time optimizations.
3Ease of operation
If circuit boards are conveyed in the same front/back direction in both lanes, then conveying is simplified, but movement distances of mounting heads become different between lanes causing unbalanced production times
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows asymmetric component mounting positions and feeder arrangements for each lane, even when boards are conveyed in the same direction. By making the mounting configurations lane-specific rather than symmetric, the system compensates for the different movement distances that naturally occur in same-direction conveying, enabling balanced production times across both lanes.
4Manufacturing precision
If a board inverting device is added to reverse board orientation between lanes, then component mounting positions can be aligned, but equipment costs increase and installation space is required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of physically inverting the boards using additional hardware, the system inverts the component mounting positions and feeder arrangements through software configuration. By reversing the logical arrangement of components and feeders in the NC data for one or both lanes, the system achieves the effect of board inversion without requiring physical board inverting devices, thus avoiding increased equipment complexity and installation space requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A production management system is configured so as to make it possible to produce component mounting boards to the same specifications in two lanes 22 and 23 of a component mounting machine 11 using one set of NC data by arranging feeders 17 of two feeder set bases 15 and 16 in the same manner and setting the mounting order of the components to the circuit boards 21 in the two lanes 22 and 23 to be the same in a same-direction production mode in which circuit boards 21 are conveyed in the same front/back direction in the two lanes 22 and 23. In addition, the arrangement of the feeders 17 and the mounting order of the components are optimized so that the difference in production times in the two lanes 22 and 23 in the same-direction production mode is minimized.