A feasibility study to the implementation of a new production facility for high volume PCBAs

Global Electronics is a small and medium enterprise (SME) that is specialised in the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Because the company wants to gain strategic insight in the feasibility of opening a new facility, they want to know how such a new facility would look like. A systematic approach is used to design the facility, looking into the layout of the facility, state-of-the-art equipment, material handling and IT requirements. For the layout, Muthers systematic layout planning was used (SLP). Alternative state-of-the-art equipment was researched using market research. A few methods and technologies were found to be promising. These potential concepts were further evaluated using a simulation. This simulation shows how the potential concept interact with each other and what performance could be realised. A deliverable to the company is a roadmap, in which an advice is given on when to adopt certain technologies given a certain scenario.