ACE contributed to reducing the cost price of a module for ITEC.
ITEC, based in Nijmegen, is a department within Nexperia that develops and produces die bonding, wire bonding, and test equipment for NXP. A die bonder is a machine that solders or glues semiconductors (dies) onto a carrier (lead frame).
The ITEC die bonder holds the world speed record of 13 products per second and is continuously under development due to ever-increasing requirements such as: increasing production speed and accuracy, shrinking die sizes, and price pressure.
An important figure for comparing ITEC’s production machines with competitors is the quotient of production speed and the cost price of a machine. To stay ahead of the competition, production speed can be increased, the cost price can be reduced, or both.
Nexperia ITEC’s die-bonders and wire-bonders have been in the field for ten years, but it was decided to thoroughly scrutinize a number of modules of the Adat3 platform. Lowering costs was the primary goal. Using the ‘childishly simple’ DFMA method carried out by ACE, the price of the transport module decreased by nearly a third.
ACE helped ITEC reduce the cost of the transport module. First, they recommended using the DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) methodology. A DFMA training course was then provided for the mechanical engineers.
Following the organised DFMA session, this method was successfully applied to a rather complex module: first, problems from the field were collected and the wishes for the new module were inventoried. Based on these inputs, a redesign of the transport module was made: from concept to TPD (Technical Product Documentation) incl. assembly, test and acceptance documents.
This resulted in 34% fewer parts, 20% fewer unique parts, and a 28% cost reduction. A number of existing issues with the module were resolved, and the expected adjustment time was shortened. To achieve a shorter changeover time for the machine in the field, the unit's modularity was increased, making the module more versatile.
Also check out the article below from Mechatronica en Machinebouw: "ACE saves costs at NXP with DFMA"