Semiconductor Solution’s Beginning Journey to Smart Factory

“Is it too late for us to embark on the digitalization journey?”?

We all know that the answer is obviously “It is never too late”. But let’s be real – the inertia to start is always the biggest hurdle to overcome. Tons of excuses tend to surface:??

“We will never be able to do it”?

“We do not have the budget to do it”?

“The team will not use the tools anyway. It will be a wasted effort”?

That story applies to one of our KAIZENTM Institute Singapore clients as well – a manufacturing solution provider who recently expanded their business’ market to automotive OEMs. As they transition their focus to the automotive markets, it became more and more apparent that the previous way of working which mostly focuses on fire-fighting and reactive plans could no longer work.?

Automotive customers began demanding more data and visibility of their orders status and the in-process quality measures that were extensively done. However, it was rather difficult for the semiconductor solution provider to provide accurate and consistent data to their customers due to the lack of a robust data infrastructure that is present to facilitate accurate data tracking.?

Some of the Major Challenges Addressed?

1. Inconsistent Metrics Definition – Firstly, the metrics that are present – OTD and Queue Time were not well defined. They were inconsistent in definitions, and the minimal data that was captured were not mutually exclusive, causing inaccuracy in data reports.??
2. Absence of Machine Data – there is no tracking of machine data as most of the machines were rather old and have limited capabilities in tracking information. Some did not have any capability to store any information, while the more advanced machines are only capable of storing a maximum of 25 records – and delete the remaining.?
3. Little-to-No Data Traceability – Ultimately with the minimal data infrastructure, the organization has extremely limited capability to perform data tracking and analysis – which has also resulted in failures of improvement efforts due to the inaccuracy of information.?

The Root of the Issues is the lack of communication between Ops and IT Team:??

Silo between Ops & IT Team – Prime reasons for the situation are the visible disconnect between the operations (Ops) and the IT team, which resulted in cases of mismatch between the IT solutions provided and the end users’ ultimate needs. As the two departments operated in silos, the organization observed stagnation of the situation for the past decade – leaving the organization to be years behind in their digitalization journey.?

However, in the KAIZENTM philosophy, “too late” doesn’t exist. With the guidance of KAIZENTM Institute Singapore, they embarked on a Digital KAIZENTM Transformation.?

Commencement of Digital KAIZENTM Transformation?

1. Facilitation between Ops and IT Team – Having identified this, KAIZENTM Institute Singapore facilitated the collaboration between Ops and IT team, chartering the organization's roadmap to the first steps of being a Smart Factory – where all plant activities are traceable, and decisions and strategies will be made from data. ? ?
2. Designing Digitalization Roadmap – The digitalization roadmap carves the path for the organization to go digital – with to-date solutions establish including the live production dashboard to monitor the fabrication team’s delivery lead time, queue time, and their production status at each fabrication juncture.??
3. Technology Acquisition – Enhancing the current data tracking, the team performed cost/benefit analysis in acquiring a vendor that can help with capturing the analog data from the machine and convert them into analog signals that are analyzable by the IT team.??

These digital tools have empowered stakeholders to monitor production closely and take immediate action when issues arise, rather than waiting until pre-delivery stages. This proactive approach has allowed the team to manage customer expectations more effectively, improve communication around potential delays, and use OEE tracking as a baseline for productivity improvements.?

Next in the pipeline for the organization is to establish the machine data dashboard for close monitoring and expansion of data tracking system to all departments for enhanced visibility of the orders status – beyond the fabrication processes.?

This is just one example of how a company can begin its Digital KAIZENTM transformation, no matter how long it has been delayed. How will your organization begin its own journey toward digitalization and continuous improvement? Discover how you can leverage Digital KAIZEN? transformation to your operations here!?

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