Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is the ultimate scorecard for any manufacturing floor. It relies entirely on three core pillars: availability, performance, and quality. When your assembly or testing processes rely heavily on manual labour, the performance metric is usually the first to take a hit. Human operators naturally introduce variations in handling and processing, meaning your cycle times fluctuate constantly.

If you cannot predict your cycle times, you simply cannot accurately forecast your throughput or control your OEE score. Every manufacturing engineer knows the frustration of a perfectly planned production schedule falling apart because manual processing speeds varied from one hour to the next.

The Cost of Unpredictability

For Tier 1 automotive infotainment manufacturers, establishing and integrating testing cells that can handle high-volume production readiness is a significant challenge. These companies require advanced, reliable, and efficient testing solutions to ensure the highest quality of their infotainment products. When you rely on manual testing for complex in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, you leave your production exposed to inconsistent output. A slow shift or a distracted operator directly translates to lost units.

The smartest way to regain control over your performance metrics is to transition to automated systems. When you implement an automated solution, your production output becomes a fixed, measurable cost. Because an automation machine has a specific cycle time, you know exactly how many units it will produce per hour, every single day. You no longer have to guess what your throughput will look like by the end of the week, and production can be flexed to produce what you need when you need it.

Catching Faults Before They Multiply

Beyond pure speed, manual cycle times often mask hidden quality issues, which drags down the quality pillar of your OEE. Human error during repetitive testing inevitably leads to defects slipping through the net or causes excessive, time-consuming rework.

To combat this, we rigorously employ a ‘No Faults Forward’ methodology. This ensures that each step in the manufacturing process is successfully completed before proceeding to the next. By catching faults early at the point they occur, this approach saves time and money, ensuring that only fully compliant products enter your supply chain. Whether the manufacturing and testing is carried out on relatively simple individual stations, or on a complex multi-station rotary or palletised line, tracking the product through the complete process guarantees compliance.

Stop Guessing, Start Tracking

Unpredictable cycle times are impossible to fix if you do not have the data to understand why they are happening. Our automation solutions provide a comprehensive Statistical Process Control (SPC) data collection package integrated directly with the machine. This allows you to maintain accurate and detailed records of the production process, facilitating quality control and compliance with industry standards.

Through the use of barcodes, 2D data matrixes, and RFID tags, you gain access to a wide variety of data, including component origin, test data, and exact cycle times. Having this information at your fingertips means you stop guessing why a cycle was slow and start acting on concrete evidence. To make managing this data even easier, we ensure that the same software is used across all machines, providing uniformity and simplifying training and maintenance processes.

Moving from Reactive to Proactive

Manual manufacturing often operates on a reactive basis, you only fix a bottleneck or a breakdown after it has already destroyed your OEE availability for the shift. By embracing smart factory principles, we move your operations from a reactive to a proactive stance.

ALPHR was an early adopter of using PCs and sensors within manufacturing cells, using technology to monitor machine health and performance, and remotely implement upgrades and fixes. We are developing algorithms to enable cells to self-diagnose potential issues, allowing for predictive and proactive maintenance that reduces unplanned machine downtime to near zero. If an issue does arise, we employ SWARM methodology to resolve issues efficiently, tailoring our support to suit individual business needs. Our target is to resolve or agree on steps to resolution for 90% of enquiries during the initial support contact.

Consolidating your manual, fragmented processes into a streamlined automated system, such as our dedicated three-station IVI solution, allows you to decrease labour requirements, minimise product handling time, and vastly improve your cycle time reliability. When your cycle times are locked in and your data is transparent, a world-class OEE score is well within reach.