Keysight Technologies / Penang Plant

Keysight Technologies manufactures electronic design and test systems for various applications, including commercial 5G communications, the aerospace sector, and the automotive industry. Since 1972, Keysight has been an established player among the pioneering companies in the “Silicon Valley” of Penang, Malaysia. With around 2,900 employees currently, the site is a center for production, R&D, supply chain management, and technical support for sophisticated measurement technology such as oscilloscopes.

The project, which won the INDUSTRIE 4.0 AWARD, pursued several objectives for the further development of digitalization and automation under the umbrella of a “Smart Factory” in Penang. Two key tasks were to optimize: the management of high product variability and the ROI of automation.

The initial situation involved decentralized, isolated work processes across test stations, assembly areas, and backend systems. This led to a lack of transparency in data analysis / results recording and delayed problem detection and resolution. In addition, the quality of production results depended heavily on employees’ individual experience, which put the site in the typical position of a shortage of skilled workers.

The solution combines multiple Industry 4.0 technologies for digitalization and automation and is successfully running on an active production line and in the site’s test center.

The challenges mentioned are addressed through a combination of technologies, including augmented reality, robotics, centralized automation, and real-time IoT. However, the winning team is not only transforming individual work processes, for example, to digitally support manual activities. Equally important is the goal of continuously strengthening the smart factory’s flexibility and adaptability to meet future market requirements. Therefore, one key requirement is that the Industry 4.0 elements must ensure user-friendliness, system flexibility, and easy access to information.

In a solution developed in-house, the winning team mounted cobot arms on autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to transport measuring devices to test stations. The AMRs move the products to the correct test stations, while the cobot arms emulate human movements and can adapt to changing line requirements.
In doing so, they perform extremely demanding tasks, such as disconnecting and reconnecting plugs / cabling. The award winner achieves 100% accuracy in cable assembly, thereby avoiding critical test errors and rework.

A RAS acts as the “brain” of the Industry 4.0 solution. It centrally coordinates software, hardware, and test systems to control the entire test process, including queue management, sequence logic, and real-time coordination. This simplifies complex operations, and software tools can be easily scaled without reprogramming.

A plug-and-play logger monitors machine utilization in production; the data is processed using AI models to forecast future capacity, identify bottlenecks, and provide insights for improvements.

At workstations, AR projectors transmit real-time instructions directly to employees on the physical product – without headsets and thus without fatigue. In addition, pick-to-light displays and IoT-enabled tools such as torque sensors support the work steps.