Assembléon and Valor Announce Alliance

Royal Philips Electronics subsidiary Assembléon announces that it is joining forces with Valor Computerized Systems to bring full factory integration to Assembléon’s pick and place equipment. The companies have chosen Productronica in Munich (November 10-13) to announce the introduction of a complete suite of software and tools for electronic equipment assembly. These will automate machine, line and factory-level workflows and business processes. The result is a complete and lean manufacturing operations management framework that is open, modular, and flexible, the company said.

"A key benefit of the new software suite is to integrate business planning and logistics systems with systems on the shop floor,” says Assembléon’s CEO André Papoular. Real-time machine data communicates transparently with the line and factory-level controls in the Valor Manufacturing Execution System (MES) suite. Papoular: "That breaks the tradition of pick and place machines being merely "islands of automation”, so slimming down the whole manufacturing operation. It also helps to eliminate bottlenecks, and improves parts management, logistics and quality improvement systems.”

Specific tools cover process preparation for new product introductions (NPI), real-time performance monitoring, and assembly traceability.

For NPI, vPlan-Lite is a dedicated version of Valor’s vPlan platform. It rapidly generates run-ready optimized programs and setup instructions for Assembléon’s flagship A-Series. vPlan-Lite handles all parts-data management requirements of the Assembléon machines, and can be conveniently upgraded to the full vPlan platform to address complex multi-vendor lines and factory-level engineering requirements.

For performance monitoring, Assembléon is demonstrating a real-time dashboard for machine and line performance display and management of alerts and exceptions. Developed jointly with Valor, the performance monitoring dashboard provides immediate visibility of all operational information for efficient use of materials.

For traceability, Assembléon will show a comprehensive reference-designator and serialized-reel ID solution that connects seamlessly into a complete build-record strategy at the factory and supply chain level.

www.assembleon.com