How far are the "dark factories" in the SMT industry?

How far are the "dark factories" in the SMT industry?

From science fiction concepts to industrial blueprints

"Dark Factory", as one of the highest forms of intelligent manufacturing, represents a fully automated production environment that requires no human intervention. Its name comes from the characteristic that it can continue to operate even when the lights are turned off.

In the field of SMT (Surface Mount Technology), this concept is no longer confined to science fiction imagination but is steadily moving from concept to implementation. With the continuous and in-depth advancement of the "Made in China 2025" strategy and the deep integration of Industry 4.0 technologies like the gentle spring rain, the SMT industry is accelerating towards the grand goal of becoming a "dark factory" at an unprecedented speed.

Strong technical support for the SMT industry to achieve "dark factories"

1. Highly automated production equipment: precise and efficient manufacturing engines

Modern SMT production lines have achieved a high degree of automation in core processes such as printing, surface mount technology, and reflow soldering. Among them, the 3D SPI (solder paste Detector) and 3D AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) devices of ALeader from Shenzhou Vision performed outstandingly:

100% online inspection: Just like a sharp quality inspector, it conducts real-time monitoring of every production link to ensure that the product quality is impeccable.
Real-time data feedback: It can promptly and accurately feed back various types of data during the production process, providing a strong basis for production decisions.
Automatic sorting of defective products: Efficiently and accurately identify and sort out defective products, preventing them from flowing into the next process, which greatly improves production efficiency and product quality.
Process parameter adjustment: Based on the actual production situation, optimize and adjust the process parameters to ensure the stability and consistency of the production process.

Intelligent material management System: A precise and efficient material delivery manager

The material distribution system combining AGV and intelligent warehousing provides efficient and precise material guarantee for SMT production:

Automatic identification of material requirements: Based on advanced information technology, it can accurately identify the demands for various materials in the production process in real time.
Precise delivery to designated workstations: Just like well-trained delivery personnel, materials are accurately and error-free delivered to the corresponding production workstations.
Achieve timely material supply: Strictly follow the production schedule, provide the required materials on time, avoid material overstock and shortage, and effectively reduce inventory costs.
Automatic inventory shortage warning: When the inventory drops below the safety threshold, the system will automatically issue a warning to remind you to replenish goods in time and ensure the continuity of production.
Digital Twin and Remote Monitoring: The intelligent hub of the production process

Based on the digital twin technology of the MES system, a highly intelligent production management platform has been built for SMT production:

Virtual mapping of the entire production process: Precisely replicate the entire production process, enabling managers to have a comprehensive understanding of the production situation in a virtual environment, identify problems in advance and make timely adjustments.
Predict equipment maintenance requirements: By analyzing the operation data of the equipment, the maintenance requirements of the equipment can be predicted in advance, effectively avoiding the impact of equipment failures on production.
Remote diagnosis and debugging: Even when in a different location, remote diagnosis and debugging of production equipment can be carried out through the network, which greatly improves the efficiency and timeliness of equipment maintenance.
Optimize production scheduling: Based on multiple factors such as production orders, equipment status, and personnel arrangements, intelligently optimize production scheduling to enhance production efficiency and resource utilization.

The severe challenges currently faced

Although the SMT industry has made remarkable progress at the technical level, achieving a true "dark factory" still faces many challenges.

The issue of device heterogeneity: The predicament of communication barriers and the lack of unified interface standards
Devices of different brands have differences in communication protocols and interface standards, which makes the interconnection and interoperability among devices extremely difficult. Just like when people of different languages communicate, due to the lack of a unified standard, obstacles are prone to occur in information transmission, which affects the overall coordination of the production system.

Exception handling capability: A weak point in dealing with complex and sudden problems
Although automated equipment can handle routine production tasks, its autonomous decision-making ability is still limited when it comes to sudden and complex problems. When confronted with some extreme situations or special problems, manual intervention is often required to solve them, which to some extent restricts the realization process of "dark factories".

Initial investment cost: A huge capital threshold for automation transformation
The full automation transformation requires a huge investment, including equipment procurement, system integration, personnel training and other aspects. For many enterprises, this is a considerable expense that may have a significant impact on their financial situation, thereby hindering the pace of automation transformation.

The shortage of technical talents: The scarcity of professionals in intelligent manufacturing
The insufficient number of professionals with the ability to operate and maintain intelligent manufacturing systems has become another challenge for enterprises to achieve "dark factories". Such talents not only need to master advanced technical knowledge but also possess rich practical experience. However, at present, such talents are relatively scarce in the market.

ALeader's breakthrough strategy of Shenzhou Vision: Implement the blueprint in stages

In response to the above challenges, ALeader of Shenzhou Vision has proposed an innovative solution to achieve a "dark factory" in phases.

Device interconnection stage: Build communication Bridges to achieve device collaboration
Supporting the IPC-CFX standard, it enables all-round data collection and interaction from equipment, production lines to enterprise-level systems, and realizes real-time monitoring of equipment status. This is like building a communication bridge, allowing devices of different brands to communicate smoothly and form an organic whole.

Intelligent optimization stage: Inject a smart brain to enhance production efficiency
Deploy AI-driven process optimization algorithms, continuously optimize production processes through data analysis and learning, and achieve predictive maintenance. At this point, the production system is like having a smart brain, capable of making precise decisions based on the actual situation and preventing problems in advance.

Autonomous decision-making stage: Grant autonomous decision-making power to achieve intelligent production
Develop an adaptive control system and build a digital twin platform. When encountering production abnormalities, the system can handle them independently, achieving a high degree of automation and intelligence in the production process. At this point, the "dark factory" truly possesses independent decision-making capabilities and can flexibly adjust production strategies according to various situations.

Future Outlook: The Trilogy of SMT "Dark Factories"

According to the industry development trend forecast, the "dark factory" in the SMT industry will be gradually realized in the following three stages.

Key production lines take the lead and light up the "dark lights" for demonstration
At this stage, key production lines will be the first to achieve "production with lights off". The fully automated production of a single product line has become a reality, unmanned operations in key processes have been applied, and local "dark light" demonstration workshops have been built. These demonstration workshops will become benchmarks in the industry, leading the SMT industry to take a solid first step towards becoming a "dark factory".

The entire factory is undergoing intelligent upgrading to enhance its comprehensive strength
With the continuous development of technology and the accumulation of experience, the entire factory will achieve intelligent upgrading. Multiple product lines can be produced in coordination, intelligent logistics achieves full coverage, and over 80% of the processes are operated unmanned. At this point, the production efficiency, product quality and cost control ability of the SMT factory will all be significantly enhanced.

The true "dark factory" has emerged, reshaping the industrial landscape
The entire production process is fully autonomous in decision-making, with 7× 24-hour unattended operation and the ability to adapt to multi-variety production. This will have a profound impact on the electronics manufacturing industry, completely transforming the face of electronics manufacturing and redefining the production methods and competitiveness standards of the manufacturing industry.

Seize the opportunity and embark on a new journey in the SMT industry

The "dark factory" in the SMT industry is not an unattainable dream but a gradually becoming industrial upgrading goal. With the deep integration of cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, AI and the Internet of Things, as well as the continuous innovation of professional manufacturers like ALeader of Shenzhou Vision, more and more SMT "dark factories" will be put into operation in the future.

This is not only a major transformation in the SMT industry, but also will bring new development opportunities to the entire manufacturing industry. Enterprises should start from now on to actively plan their intelligent transformation routes, invest resources in phases and steps, and gradually build their own "dark" production capabilities. Only in this way can we gain the upper hand in the future industrial competition and lead the trend of industry development.