About 18 months ago, one of the major automotive companies came to the Indicon Conference looking for a way to decrease mistakes on the assembly line. They found a solution in a concept named the Error Proofing Platform Station (EPP).

In May, BMW’s assembly plant in Munich celebrated its 100th anniversary. Spanning nearly 5.4 million square feet and employing some 7,800 people, the factory assembles 1,000 cars and 2,000 engines daily. 

Building complex assemblies is now a standard practice for electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies. This reality applies to firms that do work locally, nationally or internationally.

Nobody's perfect. Even the best trained, most experienced assemblers can make mistakes on the line, especially in high-mix production environments. Fortunately, a variety of software products are available to help prevent assembly errors.