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2.3 Feeders, Splicing & Replenishment

Feeder performance is the silent determinant of pick-and-place reliability. Even the fastest machine stalls if cover-tape peels inconsistently, splices fail under vision, or replenishment lags. When feeders are treated as precision tools—with calibrated tension, smooth peel paths, and disciplined splicing—the head keeps moving without interruption. Coupled with barcode tracking, supermarkets of pre-threaded feeders, and automated thresholds, replenishment becomes proactive rather than reactive, protecting cycle time from hidden losses.

2.3.1 What “good” looks like (one page)

  • Feeders run quietly with smooth cover-tape peel, clean pockets, and no mystery misses.
  • Splices sail through vision and the first 20–50 picks without a skip.
  • Replenishment happens before the machine starves—driven by reel ID scans, MES thresholds, and a line-side supermarket. (Kitting/shortage control in 5.6.)



2.3.2 Feeder care (little routines that prevent big pain)

  • Clean & inspect: blow out pocket dust, check sensor flags, verify cover-tape path and peel rollers.
  • Tension & pitch: confirm pitch settings match the tape; wrong pitch = creeping offsets that masquerade as “vision trouble.”
  • Label & track: treat feeders like tools—ID, last PM date, fault notes. Keep permanent banks for high-runner passives (set in 8.2 programs), so changeovers don’t touch them.



2.3.3 Cover-tape control (why peel angle/force matter)

  • Smooth peel = steady pick: noisy, jerky peel translates into random misses. Keep a consistent peel angle and path; replace worn rollers.
  • Leaders/trailers: reject reels without usable leaders and a few empty pockets at the tail—hand-threading mid-run is a downtime tax. (You called for this in 6.4.)
  • Pocket fit: if parts stick, the pocket’s too tight or rough—adjust peel path first; if still bad, log a supplier NCR and quarantine that lot (ties to incoming quality).



2.3.4 Splicing that never bites you

Goal: splice early, clean, and thin—so the head doesn’t notice.

  • When: set an MES alarm at N parts remaining (e.g., 200–500) so techs splice before the empty hits. (MES/WIP enforcement in 17.2.)
  • How: use the vendor’s splice clips/tape; align holes and cover-tape paths perfectly; avoid stacking adhesive under the pick line.
  • Proof: after every splice, run 20–50 dry picks in place or watch the first placements for miss/retry spikes; only then clear the station.
  • Leaders: keep pre-cut leaders in the kit so you can resplice bad tails without scrapping a reel. (Packaging discipline from 6.4.)



2.3.5 Replenishment & starvation prevention (make it automatic)

  • Scan everything: reel/tray IDs → feeders → work order; MES tracks count-down and floor-life (for MSD) while kitting tracks shortages. (17.2 + 5.6.)
  • Supermarket & carts: stage spare, pre-threaded feeders for the high-hit parts; swap the whole feeder, splice in the background. (Changeover tactics sit with 18.3.)
  • Thresholds: set remaining-parts alarms by consumption rate (CPH × TAKT); urgent parts get earlier alarms.
  • Dual lanes / mirrors: if your line runs dual-lane or parallel programs, mirror feeder maps so techs don’t think twice during swaps. (Architectures in 8.1; program/feeder mapping in 8.2.)



2.3.6 First Article for feeders (yes, really)

During FA (8.5), review pickup logs by feeder: the first 20–50 pick cycles should show near-zero miss/retry on each high-runner lane. Any outlier = peel, pocket, or tension fix now, not after reflow.



2.3.7 What to watch on dashboards

  • Starvation events per shift (goal: zero).
  • Miss/retry rate by feeder lane (spikes after splices = training or materials issue).
  • Splices per shift on the constraint machine (predictable, early, and clean).
  • Changeover minutes consumed by feeder work (roll up under OEE/availability in Part VI).



2.3.8 Pocket checklists (post these on the kit cart)

Feeder care

  • Sensors/rollers clean; pitch verified; cover-tape path smooth
  • Feeder ID & PM date visible; assigned to permanent bank if high-runner

Splicing

  • Alarm at N remaining parts; splice before empty (MES enforced)
  • Holes aligned; joint thin; first 20–50 picks clean
  • Leader kits stocked; bad tails re-worked (6.4 packaging rules)

Replenishment

  • Reel/tray IDs scanned to feeder & WO; supermarket stocked (5.6)
  • Mirrored feeder maps for dual-lane/parallel runs (8.1/8.2)



By maintaining feeders meticulously, splicing cleanly, and automating replenishment signals, starvation is eliminated and machine speed is fully realized. The result is steadier takt, higher effective throughput, and a line that runs predictably shift after shift.

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