A New Technology to Reduce Manufacturing Costs and Control Quality

Controlling quality in manufacturing is always a challenge because hundreds of tasks must be successfully completed so that only quality products are shipped to our customers. We set testing processes to help us monitor quality and test each stage of the production flow, starting with the inspection of incoming raw material, right through to the final stage prior to the delivery of finished goods to your clients. And yes, the testing data is being nicely accumulated in our manufacturing line.

BUT, we still do not really control the process in real time. We still find ourselves being surprised with unexpected quality issues which cause delays in delivery and insufficient yield.

What is the main reason for this situation?

Usually testing stations located on our manufacturing line (manual as well as automatic) measure several technical parameters. The testing concludes with an indication – “Pass” or “Fail”. If the test result shows a “Pass”, then the unit is moved on to the next manufacturing stage. If the test result shows “Fail”, then the unit is sent to a technician for further analysis.

Why do we usually pay attention only to the “Pass” or “Fail” criteria? Why aren’t we interested in the other tested parameters?

[Image Source: Quality Line]

The reason is information overload. When running a mass manufacturing line, it is impossible to routinely “digest” all the detailed information collected from testing stations. We usually analyze this data in detail only when a quality problem is found and we are busy finding the root cause of the problem. If we get a ‘Pass’, then all this detailed information is typically forgotten. A simple “Pass” or “Fail” gives us little or no information about edge cases – where one or more of the unit’s technical parameters is just within its allowed tolerance. “Edge” cases may lead to unit failure during operation, for example in extreme environments (cold, heat, humidity, electrical overload, impact etc.).

But because it is difficult for us to daily “digest” this huge amount of testing data we eventually give up on this invaluable detailed testing data and set for a minimal indication of Pass/Fail which hardly helps us to really control the process and improve quality as well as yield. For accurate and useful quality data analysis, we need to find a method that will collect and analyze the entire test data in REAL TIME and present it as actionable information.

Data is power and getting the data in real time already analyzed provides us with the ability to really control the manufacturing process. QualityLine, a high tech company has just announced its innovative technology that helps manufacturers in the electronics industry to sharply reduce manufacturing costs and improve quality.

How QualityLine Technology works?

QualityLine automatically captures the entire data accumulated during the manufacturing process, analyzes and turns it into an actionable information to significantly improve quality and yield. Manufactures that already use QualityLine technology, reports about improvement of yield by at least 15% in less than a year.

The system automatically integrates in REAL TIME the entire testing data from every corner of the manufacturing line, analyzes and presents it in interactive analytics dashboards. The teams that manages the process can overview the information, conduct data mining into the testing data, quickly conduct root cause analysis and significantly improve quality and Yield.

Written by: Dr. Eyal Kaufman