Flextronics Develops Innovative Universal Box Build (UBB) Automation System

MILPITAS, Calif., July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Flextronics FLEX today announced that it has pioneered the first of its kind Universal Box Build (UBB) system, a fully-automated, state-of-the-art equipment outfitted with Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity via smart sensors, actuators and cameras. Developed by its Advanced Engineering Group (AEG), the UBB automation solution assembles large format products such as servers, switches, and storage systems. This revolutionary equipment improves productivity and efficiency on the factory floor, shortens time-to-manufacturing and yields more quality output.

"In addition to providing additional value to our OEM customers, a key differentiator that sets the UBB apart from other automated equipment is that it offers real-time video and data streaming that enables engineers and customers to remotely analyze data for improvement and predictability," said Murad Kurwa, vice president of global design and engineering at Flextronics.  "The UBB is a key factor that helps enable factories of the future to collect and analyze data which was previously unavailable in manual assembly processes."

The UBB machine is scalable and easy to replicate globally due to its modular structure and ease of configuration. Data from UBB includes attributes such as placement accuracy of various components (e.g. heat-sink, CPU, drives, etc.) will be made available real-time to provide rapid analytics that can be viewed by up-stream processes such as product design teams as well as down-stream actions needed to improve visibility for supply chain continuity for customers.

"We have successfully qualified and installed the UBB machine for mass production at our Customer Innovation Center in Silicon Valley and look forward to rolling out the UBB across all Flextronics sites globally over time as it has proven to revolutionize production and giving advanced manufacturing process – leading to higher efficiency, improved quality and consistency," added Murad.

About Flextronics
Flextronics is a leading end-to-end supply chain solutions company that delivers design, engineering, manufacturing and logistics services to a range of industries and end-markets, including data networking, telecom, enterprise computing and storage, industrial, capital equipment, appliances, automation, medical, automotive, aerospace and defense, energy, mobile, computing and other electronic product categories. Flextronics is an industry leader with $26 billion in sales, generated from helping customers design, build, ship, and service their products through an unparalleled network of facilities in approximately 30 countries and across four continents. Flextronics service offerings and vertically integrated component technologies optimize customer supply chains by lowering costs, increasing flexibility, and reducing time-to-market. For more information, visit www.flextronics.com or follow us on Twitter @flextronics.

SOURCE Flextronics