A Cost-Based Allocation of Inspection Efforts in Quality Control of a Multistage Assembly Line: A Case Study of an Electronics Assembly Line

Firms within the electronics manufacturing industry is often a high-volume high-mix product manufacturing industry. This study presents a cost-based allocation of inspection efforts in quality control of a sequential multi-stage electronic assembly line, considering all relevant costs and proposes the optimum inspection strategy. A dynamic sampling plan is incorporated in the model to maintain the desired quality levels. Monte-Carlo simulation is used to obtain the solution of this complex model. The model is created based on an actual electronics packaging company. This approach provides the ability to minimize the costs and does not sacrifice the quality of the products. The input factors that significantly affect the costs are identified so that they can be optimized for performance improvement and decision-making.