A Bird’s Eye View of How IT Brings Electronics Manufacturing to Another Level

With Jabil’s vision to be the most technologically advanced and trusted manufacturing solutions provider, IT projects to support business processes never cease to amaze me. The projects range from short enterprise software upgrades to global R&D modernization initiatives.

I was delighted to manage the recently completed pilot project of a global initiative. The solution was to enable machine connectivity and real-time data streaming to a data warehouse. The modernization intended improved analytics for better predictability and more solid manufacturing process control. Having a variety of shopfloor machines such as a pick-and-place machine, a solder paste inspection (SPI) system, a 3D automated optical inspection (AOI) device etc. required a unified connectivity approach to be developed and deployed. A good example off the top of my head?would be experimenting with multiple CAMx, CFX, CO-NECT connectors to ensure the highest performance along with richer functionality.

With numerous company factories across the globe the project was not only technologically challenging, but also required considerable managerial work to deliver this solution on time, on budget, and maintain high quality. A Jabil factory in Western Europe was opted for piloting the initiative. Overcoming a lack of in-person interaction and addressing time zone mismatch were crucial for making work of globally distributed teams of subject matter experts (SMEs) and developers efficient and effective. A good illustration here would be scheduling a regular team meeting not too late for Asia and not too early for US workmates. A free app WTB helped me to figure out that the best meeting timeslot is around 1pm UTC.

Making the project monitoring and control process optimized as well, Smartsheet was used to design a project timeline that is fitting both developers and management. My take here was about having a single source of truth to minimize the risk of human error while manually re-working data to make them digestible for the executives. Additionally, this approach helped me to focus on the critical work rather than being bogged down in mundane doings.

A word about the teamwork: Having strong professional SMEs and developers working on the project heavily contributed to the project completion a week ahead of the planned deadline.?

At the project completion, a retrospective session was held. I was happy to admit 100% positive feedback.

As the pilot project was successfully completed, Jabil sites across the globe are scheduled to be modernized soonest. At Jabil we strive to make ANYTHING POSSIBLE and EVERYTHING BETTER.

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