The Delta 5G smart factory uses 5G's high-speed transmission and low latency, combined with AMR, automatic plug-in machines, AR, VR, and other intelligent production environments, attracting widespread attention in the electronics manufacturing industry.
Factory automation has been implemented for a long time. Still, in the face of the current demand for small batches and flexible production, the automation of mass production is no longer suitable. Delta Electronics is facing problems of frequent logistics transportation, high labor cost, and error-prone. As a provider of flexible logistics solutions, Standard Robots helps Delta upgrade an automated factory to achieve cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, and intelligent manufacturing.
Founded in Taipei in 1971, Delta Electronics is the world's No. 1 computer power supply manufacturer. Its sales volume has been No. 1 for ten consecutive years. Every two servers and every three PCs worldwide use Delta power supplies.
This project is a material distribution solution for the SMT workshop of Delta Electronics 5G Plant. The company purchased eight double-layer rollers SMT robots and two ATS robots to distribute magazine frames and materials in the workshop. The DOD system monitors the production line when the material consumption is lower than the required level, and then a distribution task will be issued to the dispatching system, calling an AMR to execute the distribution. In addition, the SMT line head and tail feeder have been modified to realize automatic docking for the consistency of the automated workflow.
Project Focus and Difficulties
The SMT feeder of the SMT production line is highly inconsistent, and standardized products are challenging to meet individual needs. In addition, the robot's docking accuracy is required to be within ±5mm, which is highly precise in the industry standards. Lastly, All equipment needs to achieve a success rate of more than 99%, which significantly adjusts the reliability and stability of the system and hardware.
Flexible AMR Solution, Designated Robots for SMT Workshop.
The Oasis-SMT-A2-R1 is a double-layer transporting autonomous mobile robot based on the SMT production process in computers, communications, and consumer electronics manufacturing. The robot's design can function as a two-way directional loading and unloading ability to suit different types of magazines with automatic loader size adjustment.
The Oasis-ATS-A1 mobile robot is specially designed for magazines or bin handling in electronics WIP storage units and can flexibly adapt to intelligent bin handling in different scenarios. The robot is highly flexible and easy to maintain, which can pick and place bins directly on the shelves, matching the existing warehouse setup.
The solution using SMT and ATS mobile robots.
When the SMT production line is short on material, the integrated MES system sends a task order to the FMS for scheduling. Then, the SMT mobile robot will go to the WIP warehouse automatic station to pick up the magazine full of material onto the lower layer and send it to the beginning point of the material loading dock at the SMT production line.
The SMT robot will automatically connect the material feeder of the production line. The lower layer will load the full magazine into the machine, and at the same time, the empty magazine will be recycled back onto the top layer of the robot. After that, The mobile robot travels the empty magazine back to the WIP warehouse automatic station, where the ATS mobile robots will receive the empty magazine and place it on the magazine shelve (WIP Warehouse Units).
The process also includes reverse operations, when the end of the SMT production line produces a complete magazine. First, the MES system automatically sends an order to the FMS to dispatch the ATS robot to the warehouse to fetch the empty magazine. Then the SMT robot will take it from the automatic station, run to the end feeder of the production line, take out the full magazine, and simultaneously load the empty one back in.
Rapid Deployment, Flexible and Reliable, Safe and Stable.
Seamless connection with the MES system helps customers realize digitalization and intelligence of production management. No more extra replacement works to the existing material racks or site renovation, which dramatically reduces the cost of implementation and deployment time with little effect on daily production.
The AMRs rely on laser SLAM navigation, no need for ground-aided positioning components, can flexibly change the driving path, and can quickly adjust to face the frequent production changes. A total of 12,000 tasks were executed in 30 days of trial operation, and only 16 errors occurred. As a result, the acceptance was completed at a success rate of 99.87%
The positioning accuracy of the Oasis AMR in complex environments can reach a millimeter difference. Thus, precise positioning ensures more stable and reliable transportation and docking. In addition, multi-level safety protection measures are provided to ensure the safety of human-robot collaboration in the facility.
Future Automation Projects at Delta Electronics.
The flexible automation solution provided by Standard Robot has helped Delta's 5G smart factory increase its per capita output value by nearly 70% within three months and the output value per unit area of the production line by 75%. Also, the error rate of manual delivery has been reduced from 2.94% to 0%, and an integrated MES system monitors factory materials' status in real-time. As a result, Delta president Xunhai Zhang estimates that the investment will be recovered within 12 months, the company will stay competitive, and the transformation of Industry 4.0 will be accelerated.
