Valor® technologies from Mentor, a Siemens business, are showcased in the Fraunhofer Institute annual live advanced packaging assembly line at the SMT Hybrid Packaging show in Nuremberg, Germany.

The Open Manufacturing Language (OML) from Mentor provides inter-vendor connection between surface mount technology (SMT) machines and line processes enabling Industry 4.0 capabilities.

The Valor IoT Manufacturing hardware product, Valor Finite Production Planning and Valor Lean Material Management software, inter-connected with machine vendors, comprise the world’s first public demonstration of digital factory automation.

Mentor, a Siemens business, today announced that its Valor® suite of software and hardware internet of things (IoT) technologies will be showcased in the Fraunhofer Institute’s advanced packaging assembly line at the SMT Hybrid Packaging event in Nuremberg, Germany, May 16-18, 2017 (Hall 5, Booth 434). This will be the world’s first live public demonstration of intelligent IoT inter-vendor connection between surface mount technology (SMT) machines and related line processes using the new Open Manufacturing Language (OML) from Mentor, on which Industry 4.0 solutions are operating.

Industry 4.0 is driving the “smart factory” – the automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, IoT and cloud computing, relying on the availability of live, accurate and detailed information from the shop-floor. Those providing Industry 4.0 enabling technologies include machine and line equipment vendors, factory solution providers, and enterprise systems, such as manufacturing execution systems (MES), manufacturing operations management (MOM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Mentor established the OML as the most comprehensive IoT language to normalize data content from any machine, process, or transactional event on the electronics assembly factory floor. This eases IoT adoption within electronics manufacturing for cost-effective and timely Industry 4.0 implementation.

“In such diverse environments as the Fraunhofer advanced packaging line, where each machine vendor is demonstrating its own specialization, this perfectly illustrates how the OML and the Valor IoT Manufacturing solution can unite the line,” said Dan Hoz, general manager of the Mentor Valor Division. “The OML and IoT Manufacturing hardware establishes the true single IoT connection, powering the digital factories of the future.”

Valor Hardware and Software Solutions for Industry 4.0 Enablement

The Valor IoT Manufacturing hardware provides the dedicated IoT infrastructure for the entire packaging assembly line, providing accelerated interfaces for machines which do not create OML directly. This enables Industry 4.0 deployment without the need to replace existing equipment.

“We need to support many different data outputs from each of our machines according to the requirements of our customers—and maintaining all of these solutions is a rapidly growing challenge for our business,” Klaus Gross, general manager of FUJI Machine Manufacturing Europe GmbH. “Now, with OML and Valor IoT Manufacturing, we can satisfy all customer needs through one interface to create and enhance our own Industry 4.0 solutions, by taking data from other machines on the line and from the factory infrastructure.”

Valor IoT software provides machine and line performance reporting, progress data, and information related to material consumption and traceability. Information is shown in a comprehensive dashboard, utilized by several key computerized applications. The Valor Finite Production Planning software creates and adjusts product work-order flows based on dynamic customer delivery demand patterns. The OML data is read from the line for live production status. Digital process flow modelling and optimization is possible for all production scenarios, addressing constraints, such as materials, tools and resources. With specific knowledge of the different SMT and related machines, the Valor Production Plan product creates a reliable, high-yield production process regardless of the high product mix, without excess inventory build-up. This also reduces SMT changeover times through the dynamic grouping of feeders between products.

The Valor Lean Material Management product provides an automated supply chain including a complete logistics engine for a Lean Materials flow with “just in time” materials delivery. This is based on actual machine consumption and calculated consumption, as identified by the immediate production plan commitment. All materials logistics through hand-held operator terminals are managed for material inventory accuracy (including complete material consumption and spoilage). Data is then shared with the ERP system, reducing needless material stock and bloated warehouse inventory.

Information is normalized and exchanged in the OML format between the machines and processes throughout the lines, and across different lines, into factory-wide computerizations and to the enterprise systems. The OML language and single IoT communication infrastructure is bi-directional, providing SMT machine vendors with accurate material information and work-order detail from site level.  This improves placement operations for variations, and effective machine program optimization.

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