New-age technologies are aborning in the manufacturing world, and old technologies are fledging to meet the demands of the dynamic manufacturing technology dependencies. Recently, a few technology pillars have enormously contributed to optimising the manufacturing processes back to back. If you are a manufacturing practitioner battling to survive the painstaking competitions and technologically negotiating your way to the leading edge in your industry, this article is for you. Understanding the recent technologies in optimising your manufacturing processes will guide you to meet the best levels of operational excellence in your establishments. Learn which technologies suit your organisation the most and why.
Why Technology Plays An Important Role In Optimising Manufacturing Processes
Over the last dozen years, technology has enabled an impactful resurgence in the manufacturing world. Every time there is an economic crisis, socio-economic downfalls (like the COVID-19 epidemic) and many other industrial problems, technology has always resurrected manufacturers to meet their expected levels in terms of management, operations and finance. After the global acceptance of industry 4.0 demands, many manufacturers have undergone one hands-on digital transformation and are exploring newer ways of boosting the overall efficiency of their businesses.
Technology also plays a crucial role in manufacturing competitive positioning. Adopting relatable and smart technologies to cut down negligible costs, time, effort and resource wastages, plus optimising the quality, timeliness and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing processes, is no longer a choice but an essential upgrade to most manufacturers. In the modern age, technology and manufacturer are inseparable, for the customer’s reliance, market position sustainability and keeping up to the rate of innovation is too important for a manufacturer to prosper. Thus, making the deployment and integration of technology a crucial step in optimising manufacturing processes.
Technology also plays a crucial role in manufacturing competitive positioning. Adopting relatable and smart technologies to cut down negligible costs, time, effort and resource wastages, plus optimising the quality, timeliness and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing processes, is no longer a choice but an essential upgrade to most manufacturers. In the modern age, technology and manufacturer are inseparable, for the customer’s reliance, market position sustainability and keeping up to the rate of innovation is too important for a manufacturer to prosper. Thus, making the deployment and integration of technology a crucial step in optimising manufacturing processes.
What Technologies Optimise Manufacturing Processes, and How?
After the disruptions made by industry 4.0 requirements and the vision it inspired manufacturers to perceive, many manufacturing giants relied on smart technologies highlighted in this era. With proven results and manufacturers boasting achievable successes after smart technology deployments, the manufacturing world has understood that leveraging advanced technologies is a step closer to faster process optimisation. Here are a few of the new-age technologies that have contributed to optimising manufacturing processes seamlessly.
IIoT-driven Smart Machines- From Sensors to Mobile Robots
The deployment of smart machines like UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicles), drones, IIoT-driven sensor networks, manufacturing robots, and more is inevitable for manufacturing companies of today. IIoT-driven smart machines are deployed at the heart of manufacturing processes by forward-looking manufacturers around the world. There are still manufacturers around the world that find IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) fictional, but many manufacturers who invest in IIoT-driven smart machine fleets are saving more organisational time, money and time.
IIoT has the power to interconnect 1000s of smart machines and allow the user to enable integrated machine control in a single effort. It allows the manufacturing decision-makers to collect data, exchange and analyse, then transform raw data into impactful insights. Manual machine diagnosis and monitoring are exhausting and almost impossible for manufacturers that employ hundreds of smart devices in their manufacturing processes. This is why IIoT allows a data platform that helps the manufacturing decision-makers to track down machine anomalies, predict failures and improve the performance of machines with prioritised machine maintenance programs.
IIoT makes smart manufacturing-based machines powerful with robust digital ecosystems; smart interconnect, and holistic control over complex machine fleets. This technology allows machine-heavy manufacturing centres to boost the overall productivity, OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) standards, efficiency and advanced functionality of manufacturing establishments.
IIoT has the power to interconnect 1000s of smart machines and allow the user to enable integrated machine control in a single effort. It allows the manufacturing decision-makers to collect data, exchange and analyse, then transform raw data into impactful insights. Manual machine diagnosis and monitoring are exhausting and almost impossible for manufacturers that employ hundreds of smart devices in their manufacturing processes. This is why IIoT allows a data platform that helps the manufacturing decision-makers to track down machine anomalies, predict failures and improve the performance of machines with prioritised machine maintenance programs.
IIoT makes smart manufacturing-based machines powerful with robust digital ecosystems; smart interconnect, and holistic control over complex machine fleets. This technology allows machine-heavy manufacturing centres to boost the overall productivity, OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) standards, efficiency and advanced functionality of manufacturing establishments.
Organisation-driven Data Algorithms for Automation
Data-driven technologies have allowed manufacturers to collect an abundant amount of big data that are fed into specifically developed AI and ML algorithms. This leads to automation of tasks that drastically reduces the time in process repetitive workflows, continuous process manufacturing like casting, machining, forming and joining. AI-driven automation leads to optimising smart advanced manufacturing with integrated data technologies that optimise the engineering, functioning and designing aspects in manufacturing processes.
For example, using data and building AI and ML algorithms to execute automated machines for packaging optimises packaging machines. This leads to non-reliance on human workforces, brings down packaging speed from days to a few hours, chips down overall packaging costs and lets the manufacturers deliver the goods to the customer faster and in perfect quality.
Another Instance where organisation-driven algorithms can be used for automation is during manufacturing process inspection. Manufacturers can harness automation technologies to ensure that the assembly system is running at the best quality standards. Automated inspection technologies powered by AI and ML technologies lead to completing inspection routines of million-part jobs in just 10 to 12 minutes. These AI schemas and algorithms are trained to detect defects, eliminate risks and decrease the turnaround inspection time conveniently.
For example, using data and building AI and ML algorithms to execute automated machines for packaging optimises packaging machines. This leads to non-reliance on human workforces, brings down packaging speed from days to a few hours, chips down overall packaging costs and lets the manufacturers deliver the goods to the customer faster and in perfect quality.
Another Instance where organisation-driven algorithms can be used for automation is during manufacturing process inspection. Manufacturers can harness automation technologies to ensure that the assembly system is running at the best quality standards. Automated inspection technologies powered by AI and ML technologies lead to completing inspection routines of million-part jobs in just 10 to 12 minutes. These AI schemas and algorithms are trained to detect defects, eliminate risks and decrease the turnaround inspection time conveniently.
Realistic Visualisation Via Digital Twin
Another technological upgrade that cannot be overlooked by manufacturing experts of the new age is The Digital Twin Technology. Digital twins are virtual models that act as tweakable and more accessible digital counterparts of physical objects like robots, machines, production lines, factories and more. They are digitally engineered to mirror the real-time operating statuses, parameters that denote the performance of manufacturing processes and other aspects that must be kept under close supervision.
Digital twins enable an interactive model that illustrates the attributes and key metrics of production lines that are operating away from its user. This technology is used by manufacturing managers to pinpoint operational, performance and functional anomalies of production lines that are captured with analysing manufacturing line data. The actionable insights gathered by employing the digital twin helps production teams to rainstorm and tailor strategies to optimise the manufacturing processes based on real-time information.
The digital twin also makes root cause exploration easier than ever. Since it acts as an information hub for the abundance of data collected from production lines, it can indicate hidden causes too. It can highlight performance indicators by reducing variances and analysing hidden causes, which leads to end-to-end manufacturing process optimisation.
Digital twins enable an interactive model that illustrates the attributes and key metrics of production lines that are operating away from its user. This technology is used by manufacturing managers to pinpoint operational, performance and functional anomalies of production lines that are captured with analysing manufacturing line data. The actionable insights gathered by employing the digital twin helps production teams to rainstorm and tailor strategies to optimise the manufacturing processes based on real-time information.
The digital twin also makes root cause exploration easier than ever. Since it acts as an information hub for the abundance of data collected from production lines, it can indicate hidden causes too. It can highlight performance indicators by reducing variances and analysing hidden causes, which leads to end-to-end manufacturing process optimisation.
Will Technology Keep Surprising The Manufacturing World?
Technologies that are emerging today will soon be shaping the world tomorrow and well into the future – with impacts to economies and to society at large. Now that we are well into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it’s critical that we discuss and ensure that humanity is served by these new innovations so that we can continue to prosper.
– Mariette DiChristina, Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American and chair of the Emerging Technologies Steering Committee
Smart and integrated industrial manufacturing and risk mitigation technologies are disrupting this age with innovation, reliance and hope for manufacturers to meet success with lesser efforts every day. New-age technologies have been, is and will be radically changing the way manufacturers operate and how customers will perceive cutting-edge services. It is hard to overlook that recent technological advancements are financially, generationally and organisationally overwhelming to most manufacturers, but it is nevertheless an important and mandatory development. Therefore, manufacturing practitioners are left with very few inconvenient choices other than the very best choice- adopting new-age technologies to optimise the manufacturing processes.
