FEBRUARY 20239MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSThis computerized process enables Lumileds to automatically find and destroy mavericks before they are included in customer shipments. Seeing better: the application of Automated Visual InspectionIn common with many other production environments, an LED factory uses visual inspection to monitor the quality of production output. As little as 10 years ago, a Lumileds factory would have housed rooms full of manufacturing technicians hunched over microscopes to examine batches of production units. Today, this process is performed by machines using Automated Visual Inspection (AVI) technology. Here too, AI is in use: in this case, AI enables the AVI technology to recognize the distinctive visual signatures of potentially defective units. The AVI system is both more accurate and faster than the previous human inspection process, and requires far fewer people to perform repetitive tasks. This is the perfect example of a technology that improves quality and reduces cost. Quality and performance embedded in the cultureBeyond Big Data, AI, and AVI, perhaps the next biggest differentiator for Lumileds is not a technology at all ­ it is the way that its people operate in the factory. This is conditioned by Lumileds' company culture in which quality and continuous improvement are prime values. This culture is promoted through formal programs such as `TCPI2' (Total Continuous Process Improvement and Innovation). This ambitious initiative is aligned with the company's safety, quality, and efficiency policies, and has three goals: · Zero accidents· Zero defects· Zero wasteThese high-level goals are backed by formal elements of business operations ­ procedures, data repositories, training, and education ­ but equally by a company-wide understanding. This is passed down from generation to generation of workers in a company that still counts on its payroll numerous veterans of the early years of the company. As critical as technology and equipment, it is this shared commitment to quality and improvement which will ensure that Lumileds maintains its position as the premium manufacturer of high-performance LEDs. Maintaining its leadership position requires the implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies and methods that enable it to continually improve product performance and quality while reducing the cost of operations
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