From "Searching Time" to "Making Time."
A shop floor that keeps pace with rising orders — and keeps all 21 lines running.

In an EMS factory running high-mix, low-volume production, productivity depends on how quickly and accurately changeovers are done.

Improving the SMT process alone is not enough. If searching for, checking, preparing and returning parts still takes a long time, the lines cannot run at full capacity.

KATATA ELECTRIC (THAILAND) CO., LTD. ("KET") runs SMT assembly in Thailand.

The company used Smart Reel Rack® to turn its parts management into a "live inventory."

As a result, KET cut parts preparation time by 42% and parts storage space by 66%.

It also reduced picking staff from 10 across two shifts to 4. Mis-picks and mis-mounts dropped to zero.

So did pre-setup delays on its 21 lines caused by preparing parts for the next production run.

KET's approach goes beyond efficiency. It also covers quality, stable operation and future improvement investment, and it offers a proven model for high-mix, low-volume EMS.

※KATATA ELECTRIC (THAILAND) CO., LTD. Left: Mr. Yosuke Otowa, Manager / Right: Mr. Hideki Umehara, President 

　We spoke with Mr. Otowa, who oversees everything from materials management to overall manufacturing,

　about the results and how the system took hold on the shop floor. 

Parts preparation time fell from 6.03 to 3.49 minutes per reel, a 42% reduction.

Returning reels to the shelves fell from 81.8 to 24.6 seconds, a 70% reduction. Searching for shelf locations on a PC and checking storage locations in the production management system are, as a rule, no longer needed.

Picking staff went from 10 across two shifts to 4 in total: 2 on the day shift and 2 on the night shift. Parts storage space shrank from about 206 m² to about 71 m², a 66% reduction.

The capacity freed up by needing fewer people can now go to higher-value work.

On quality, mis-picks and mis-mounts are now at zero. Pre-setup delays caused by preparing parts for the next run are also at zero.

All required parts can now be gathered quickly before production starts, so changeovers happen promptly. This removes the risk of line stoppages and raises productivity.

On return on investment, a simulation estimates labor savings of over THB 2.4 million per year, with an expected payback period of 4 years or less.

One barcode scan, no guesswork. Skill-free operation in one week, with about a year of trouble-free running

Before the system, staff worked from an inventory list exported to Excel.

When several reels of the same part were in stock, they had to compare dates and pick the oldest first.

When the required quantity didn't match a full reel, they worked out the remainder by hand and then pulled an additional new reel manually.

Deciding which reels to take, and how many, was left to each operator. This took time, and results depended heavily on experience and familiarity.

With Smart Reel Rack®, operators scan a single barcode.

The system decides which reels to pick based on FIFO and the required quantity, and LEDs show where they are. Operators simply take the reels from the lit positions.

Searching, comparing and calculating are no longer part of the job, so even non-veteran staff can store and pick reels accurately without hesitation.

This skill-free way of working became established on the shop floor in about one week.

Storage and picking started without any major problems.

For about a year since then, the racks, the system and daily operations have all run stably without trouble. Operations have gone so smoothly that engineers from JFE Shoji Electronics Thailand Ltd. have not needed to visit for on-site support.

Smart Reel Rack® has also been highly rated as a parts management system during customer audits and factory tours for new customers.

Being able to show clearly where parts are and how they are managed does more than make daily work more efficient. It also builds even greater trust in KET's quality control.