Automatic Work Direction Preparation

The preparation of written work directions for manufacturing processes becomes routine paperwork for standard products such as printed wiring boards. The printed wiring board process has been standardized to the degree that a computer can automatically prepare a work direction after the engineer answers approximately 20 questions about the process. After a few minutes of editing, the work direction is ready for distribution. Numerical control data for the printed wiring board are used to create selected images of the board on the printed page. A driver program is used to produce keys for each part number. These keys then act on the master text file to produce a completed work direction. The driver program technique has eliminated the need to store the complete text of each part on tape, thereby avoiding the use of a tremendously large storage space in the computer. In addition, mass revision of all work directions requires only the revision of the master text file and a new printout for each active part number. Use of the computer has increased productivity by eliminating an estimated 95 percent of the engineering time required to prepare 360 new work directions a year.