Authored By:
Robert Miklosey
Aegis Software
Horsham, PA USA
Summary
Traceability and process control are no longer requirements reserved for manufacturers in regulatory or specific market segments. Today, all manufacturers who aspire to achieve or to maintain a "world class" status must deliver some degree of traceability. The PCB assembly industry lacked a common language regarding the nature of traceability or its levels. Nor has there been a means to benchmark such capability or to communicate its nature to customers or regulatory agencies in a common manner.
Conclusions
Improving traceability capabilities is an important driver for most manufacturers today. Until now it has been impossible to quantify traceability across manufacturing locations and industries. A common ratings guide, independent of the manufacturer provides a normalized gauge, and therefore a common language, to how traceability is communicated. It is not intended to serve as an indictment of one manufacturer against another, but instead to establish a way to factor traceability with equally weighted criteria.
Initially Published in the IPC Proceedings
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