Ionics EMS, Inc. (Philippines)

Mounter NPM-WX/W2, SMT MES system PanaCIM-EE Gen2, software iLNB

Significantly increased production capacity and efficiency by introducing Panasonic‘s latest SMT solutions.Great example of realizing “Smart Factory”.

Introduction: From 2013 Location: Phillipines

Issue

Originally Ionics used other company’s SMT machines and software. However they need to respond to increasing demand and high productivity. Ionics decided to consider Panasonic’s SMT solutions.

Solution

The combination of Panasonic’s hardware and software dramatically improves productivity. They succeeded in reducing the number of lines from 65 to 37, increasing the production capacity by about 3 times, and increasing the space in the factory.

“Three combination of best-in-class hardware, world-class software, and outstanding service, our overall experience has been very good with the Panasonic brand.”

Ionics EMS, Inc.
Mr. Jay Chavez, Chief Operating Officer

Background

Providing the best manufacturing services to customers as a global EMS provider

"Ionics is the oldest EMS company in the Philippines with 50 years of experience. In order to continue to be competitive in this industry, to be recognized as a global EMS provider, and to provide the best manufacturing services to our customers, we needed to move forward with various considerations, including automation." (Jay Chavez, Chief Operating Officer)

Reason for introduction

To realize the vision of "Smart Factory"

“Our founder, Larry Qua, had a vision to realize “Smart Factory”. This goal is to create a environment where all facilities and data are connected to smart factory. Panasonic was the one who supported this vision and worked with us." (Jay Chavez, Chief Operating Officer.)

Effects

Even if the number of lines are halved, the amount of production is about three times

“We used to have 65 assembly lines in the past. So when I started working in Ionics, we have 65 assembly lines, now we have 37. But if you look at the capacity of the line from the 65, it's only 30% of the capacity that we have now where we only have 37 lines." (Emma Gerodias, VP Operations)

Digitization strategy for further productivity improvement

“My priority for the company is to improve efficiencies and productivity. And I believe this can be done through digitalization. So we have a digital strategy that we are launching this year in order to take the company to the next level. Panasonic can help us to achieve our targets and objectives by collaborating with our technical team, integrating Panasonic and PanaCIM solutions with our smart factory solutions." (Jay Chavez, Chief Operating Officer)

The number of SMT lines, which used to be 65, has now been reduced to 37, mainly by Panasonic. Even if the number of lines are reduced, the production capacity is about three times higher, significantly improved production efficiency.

By utilizing the integrated management software iLNB, data from Panasonic screen printer and mounting machines are connected with other companies' equipment such as inspection machines.

Ionics Enterprise Room has implemented PanaCIM to visualize the operating status. The system also shows detailed information by touching the screen.

Case study video

Voice of customers

Strong collaboration toward Smart Factory

“The relationship with Panasonic has been very good. We've experienced a lot of collaboration in terms of developing our smart factory program with the Panasonic team. The smart factory program still has a long way to go and we need to have stronger relationship with Panasonic team in order to achieve all our targets and all our objectives.”

写真：Ionics EMS, Inc. 最高執行責任者 Jay Chavez様 — Ionics EMS, Inc., Mr. Jay Chavez, Chief Operating Officer
*The organization/post was at the time of the interview.

Expectation to Panasonic’s autonomous factory solution

“We still have a lot of people working, we still have a lot of engineers that needs to work in the machine. And although we have achieved a lot of improvements in terms of people working in the manufacturing line, we are still not on the level of a lights out factory and this is what we need from Panasonic. We need Panasonic to continuously improve its autonomous factory solution. So that maybe in the next five years we can really have the lights-out factory.”

写真：Ionics EMS, Inc.製造担当副社長　Emma Gerodias様 — Ionics EMS, Inc., Ms. Emma Gerodias, Vice President of Manufacturing
*The affiliation was at the time of the interview.

Customer introduction