Manufacturing in Silicon Valley: ASteelFlash develops its smart factory vision

When talking about Silicon Valley, most people usually think about Apple, Google, Facebook, startups and new technologies.

But Silicon Valley has also been the seedbed of innovation for the advanced electronic manufacturing industry.

That’s why electronics manufacturing company ASteelFlash says it is now implementing a pilot program at its Fremont, California facility targeted towards building the smart factory of the future. 

The company has a two-pronged approach.

• First, automation, with the installation of collaborative robots and connected equipment bringing real-time data.
• Second, through a proprietary revolutionary supply chain platform combining artificial intelligence and machine learning.

ASteelFlash says that, as part of a global initiative across the 18 locations of the group, it will “change the way products are currently being built”, increasing productivity and ultimately strengthening its customers’ competitiveness.

By placing automation as a strategic initiative, Asteelflash says it is striveing to improve the processes, to enhance productivity, and to develop the teams working collaboratively on more advanced projects, moving away from the idea of manufacturing as a simple execution rather than a sequence of smart and optimized processes.

Albert Yanez, executive VP of Asteelflash Group and president of Asteelflash Americas, says: “Fremont facility is definitively a strategic location.

“We want to be as close as possible from the Silicon Valley to stay at the edge of the innovation and bring our customer the best solution to their needs.

“The Smart Factory initiative is definitively a way to provide a better service to our customers but also to rationalize our processes and build intelligence around it.”

This is currently the most aggressive era in terms of innovation, says ASteelFlash.

From advanced manufacturing to machine learning, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, being located in Silicon Valley is “definitely a strategic and competitive advantage when bringing a new product to market”, says the company.