i wonder how automated assembly would change peoples design methodology?
I think electronics in college should have shown more how to bring product to market. they showed how to work for someone else.
i wonder how automated assembly would change peoples design methodology?
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Re: i wonder how automated assembly would change peoples design methodology?
My job in product development requires that I keep up with the latest automated manufacturing techniques. Using automated techniques does help reduce the cost of assembly.
The down side of most automated assembly is the high cost of setting up for a run. Therefore there is a minimum number of assemblies to run that makes economical sense. If the production run is small then automated assembly can cost much more per assembly than assembly by hand. This is called 'economy of scale' and is why commercial consumer products are so inexpensive to buy.
So when I start a new design the question I ask the Marketing team is: How many can you sell per year. Where I work we have products that only sell 10-50 per year (yes these are very specialized products) so these are not worth to have built with automation and are designed with this in mind. Whereas our other products sell 100per month and we buy in runs of a few hundred so automated assembly and Test (any important part of production that can be expensive) is a priority in the design.
The down side of most automated assembly is the high cost of setting up for a run. Therefore there is a minimum number of assemblies to run that makes economical sense. If the production run is small then automated assembly can cost much more per assembly than assembly by hand. This is called 'economy of scale' and is why commercial consumer products are so inexpensive to buy.
So when I start a new design the question I ask the Marketing team is: How many can you sell per year. Where I work we have products that only sell 10-50 per year (yes these are very specialized products) so these are not worth to have built with automation and are designed with this in mind. Whereas our other products sell 100per month and we buy in runs of a few hundred so automated assembly and Test (any important part of production that can be expensive) is a priority in the design.
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Re: i wonder how automated assembly would change peoples design methodology?
So to test thowse designs if their was a place that setup their machine for 50$ per hour of setup time. Then you pay for boards solder paste and digireels or mouser reels would that benefit the design process?
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.