From the Frontiers of R&D and Engineering

Meeting customer requirements with manufacturing technology

It is necessary to offer good products at reasonable prices when needed so that many customers purchase them. It takes much time and effort to make good products; so good products become expensive. It is therefore not an easy task to meet all requirements. One of the ways to cut prices is to reduce labor costs by automating manufacturing processes using robots. It may also be necessary to develop equipment with higher accuracy in order to improve product quality. The catch here is that spending much time or money on the development of robots or equipment pushes up product prices.
For example, human operators can easily insert connectors into electronic circuit boards, but this task is more difficult for robots than you might expect. Humans find a connector with their eyes, pick it up with their fingers, hold it at a right angle, and insert it into a board until it clicks while relying on a delicate sense of touch. To imitate the actions of a human being, a multi-articulated robot with many sensors and sophisticated software algorithms is required. Indeed, it would be fun to try to develop such a robot, but the development cost might not be justifiable for the given benefit. In such cases, you should discuss with the people concerned to find the optimal solution. For example, you should consider whether you could solder components on a board instead of using a connector, whether a connector is necessary in the first place, and whether there is any way to simplify the operation. You need to find a solution that satisfies customer requirements through discussion with various people.
To solve a problem, I discuss not only with people in manufacturing but also with product developers, designers, salespeople, and quality assurance engineers. The more difficult a problem is, the more difficult it is to solve it, if your activities are confined to a specific area. To seek solutions to great challenges, the organizational power must be utilized. It is worth all your efforts to work out a plan for a sophisticated production line in cooperation with many people. I feel so happy when I see a new production line come on stream, turning out products.

Sharing ideas to select an appropriate method

Many people are involved in finding a solution to a manufacturing problem. Since they come from different departments and have their own points of view, it is important to have a framework for the selection of an appropriate manufacturing method (Figure 1). In Figure 1, the horizontal axis represents the universality of processing points or tasks whereas the vertical axis represents the difficulty of performing them manually. The chart in Figure 1 is divided into four quadrants.

Figure 1 Automation according to characteristics of manufacturing processes
Reference: Toshiba Review, VOL. 73 No. 1 (2018) (PDF: 563 KB)

The first quadrant represents tasks that are difficult to carry out manually. The manufacturing processes of only specific products fall in this quadrant such as batteries developed in-house and superconducting and other special-purpose coils.
The second quadrant also represents tasks that are unsuitable for manual work. However, good machines are commercially available that perform these tasks such as thin-film deposition machines for semiconductor device fabrication and electronic part mounters. It is possible to develop these machines on our own, but they are generally purchased and configured to reduce the time and cost required. Even in that case, we add necessary functions to these machines or modify them in order to create unique production lines or facilities.
The third quadrant represents tasks that can be handled manually but may as well be automated to reduce costs or improve quality. A survey of major manufacturing sites of the Toshiba Group revealed that the goods conveyance, assembly, and inspection processes are often performed manually. Therefore, Toshiba has been automating these processes economically by combining robots and off-the-shelf components. For example, we have developed and deployed automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) using existing components and versatile robot hands capable of picking up items of various shapes.
The fourth quadrant represents tasks that are so specialized that no machines are available that perform them. It requires much cost and time to develop equipment that automates these tasks. To simplify these tasks, we modify product designs so as to facilitate automation or work out a method for assisting human workers.
The Toshiba Group has been promoting the automation of manufacturing processes based on this four-quadrant chart.