Iwasaki Electric developed Cyber Tester to help eliminate malfunctions from occurring. In 2006, the company started implementation in its domestic plants as well as its Vietnam plant, and the result of continuing functional improvement while accumulating know-how was that the defect rate drastically dropped from 2008. At the Vietnam plant, in particular, they are an accepting people and are very willing to incorporate new ideas, and they positively made use of the Cyber Tester, thereby boosting quality up a notch to maintain a higher level of quality than in Japan. The Vietnamese workers are diligent and skilled with their hands, which is ideal for detailed harness work. However, it was difficult to educate them on how to take measures after a defect occurs. The introduction of the Cyber Tester enabled an accurate understanding of defects and easy correction, thereby greatly contributing to improved quality. (See Figure 1.)
To perform a harness inspection, the data between harness terminals to be tested is registered in advance to a data table called a "reference". The Cyber Tester checks that the signal output to one pin is input correctly to another pin while referring to the reference, and cable malfunctions (incorrect wiring, short circuit, disconnection) are detected automatically. At the same time, the results of external and other visual inspections are input manually.
When the Cyber Tester discovers a malfunction, a report of the malfunction location and repair item are issued, and repair instructions are sent. The results are stored in the database at this time. After a certain amount of data is accumulated, trends are extracted from that data, and the worker is cautioned that a certain part in the product is apt to malfunction, enabling a reduction in the number of malfunctions. In other words, the device used to detect malfunction is being used to construct a system that prevents malfunction.