Greenfield planning using innovative analytical tools

Aggressive time-to-market objectives in the electronics and semiconductor industry require fast production ramp-up for new products. Inaccurate planning can have disastrous consequences, in missed revenue and additional costs. Traditional planning techniques fall short for many reasons, including their use of averages for process times, equipment downtime, labor availability, yields, and reworks. Simulation modeling tools are effective in accounting for variability in these parameters, and provide additional capability to assess logistics issues, work-in-process (WIP) levels, cycle times, and staffing to name a few. Modeling new production lines, "greenfield" lines, has unique problems in data collection and equipment performance prediction. By highlighting bottlenecks early, one factory was able to increase start-up capacity 600%, while saving $300,000 in capital. The process of collecting data and building a simulation model created a heightened atmosphere of teamwork within the organization. All of these improvements in turn can contribute to a quick and successful product start-up.