Masters Abstracts (1996)

KU, KUO-CHENG
(March 1996), QA Engineer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (Hsin-Chu), Taiwan

Email: kcku@mhit.edu.tw

A Computer Aided Process Planning System for Manual Printed Wiring Board Assembly

Process planning is an important function in electronics assembly. In order to achieve effective process planning, it is essential to collect and analyze relevant information. An efficient management system is essential to store and retrieve the collected information as and when necessary. In a microelectronics Printed Wiring Board (PWB) assembly facility which specializes in contract manufacturing, the information received by the process planner from the customer includes one or more of the following: assembly drawing, component descriptions, a sample assembly, etc. The process planner has to work with this input information and use his/her knowledge of the capabilities of the facility in determining an acceptable process plan that meets both process and scheduling needs. In performing these functions, the human is inhibited by the increasing complexities and the escalating demands of the manufacturing environment. Proper information collection and analysis are important for process planning. Data storage and retrieval are the essential functions of information communication and organization. They are the key to effective decision making.

In order to effectively cope with complex data collection and organizational needs, the domain expert has to spend significant amounts of time to handle and analyze the information needed prior to arriving at a viable and efficient process plan. A computer-aided process planning system was designed to assist the domain expert in analyzing and planning the through-hole hand mount technology process. Detailed process reports were generated to help the process engineers and the managers in decision making. Tools are provided to help deal with system update and to ensure software flexibility. This research considers a batch type PWB assembly environment. The process planning system is implemented on a central processor within a star topology Local Area Network (LAN) system which allows the domain experts to organize and communicate the information efficiently