Ninety percent of industrial businesses will be employing smart manufacturing technology by 2025, predicts IDC International Data Corporation.
We shall discuss the advantages of smart factories, the technology involved, and Japanese precedent instances in this post.
contents table
A smart factory: what is it?
Benefits of putting in place a smart factory
Enhancement of quality
Lowering of costs
Getting rid of shortages in human resources
Avoidance of malfunctions
Handling unforeseen issues
Smart factory-related technologies
I.T.
Digital twins, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence
Examples of smart factories in the country
Toshiba Electric Fuji
NTT Eastern
For people in charge of businesses thinking about becoming digital
A smart factory: what is it?
A smart factory is a novel idea for manufacturers that fully engages cutting edge technology like AI and IoT by managing operations using digital data. This makes it possible for you to increase productivity over time, effectively create high-quality goods, and streamline company operations.
Robots and other technologies have been introduced in the conventional manufacturing sector to increase job productivity. However, smart factories prioritize data gathering and usage, rethinking whole business processes, and improving workflows on-site. Masu.
Globally, initiatives like the United States’ “Industrial Internet Consortium” and Germany’s “Industry 4.0” are focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the use of AI and IoT, Japan has also accomplished efficient production with minimal workers, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has developed the “Smart Factory Roadmap.”
Benefits of putting in place a smart factory
A smart factory’s implementation will assist in resolving a number of on-site problems that previously arose in factories.
Enhancement of quality
One of the most crucial aspects of the manufacturing sector is guaranteeing product quality. To guarantee quality traceability, production history data is linked to product information and maintained in smart factories. This will increase consumer input and improve quality control by making it simpler to determine how the product was made.
Furthermore, reducing human error and preventing the leakage of faulty items may be achieved by using image data and AI analysis to identify abnormal situations via inspection, as well as by monitoring time-series data.
Lowering of costs
Improving factory profitability requires lowering production costs. Accurately assessing the existing state of affairs is a prerequisite for cutting production costs, but in traditional factories, this proved to be challenging.
A multitude of data is centrally gathered in a smart factory, including not only the cost of purchasing components but also the labor hours needed to create each product, the frequency of faulty goods, the hours that equipment is used, and the state of energy consumption. This makes it possible for you to clearly see improvement measures, depict the discrepancy between objectives and actual outcomes, and comprehend production costs with accuracy.
Getting rid of shortages in human resources
Manufacturing is one of the numerous sectors that has a talent shortage. Japan’s manufacturing is being impacted by a variety of factors, including the aging population’s influence on the number of trained engineers, the difficulty in finding young engineers, and the rise in the number of foreign workers.
The lack of human resources may be addressed if smart factories are constructed via the automation of production lines through the use of AI, robots, and automated equipment; standardization of skills and know-how through the use of big data; and digitalization of process manuals and manuals. It is possible to achieve continuous succession and technological transfer.
Avoiding mistakes
For steady manufacturing operations, it is important to identify production equipment defects early on. The standard practice was periodic maintenance, but this method was known as preventative maintenance and included replacing components that were still in stock since it was time-based.
Predictive maintenance is a condition-based strategy that has gained popularity recently. Utilizing data from target equipment, smart factories may anticipate issues and schedule repair at the most convenient moment. This guarantees steady manufacturing line operation and lowers labor man-hours and component costs.
Handling unforeseen issues
Unexpected problems on the manufacturing line can serve as a testament to the benefits of smart factories. Normally, it would take a lot of time and effort to find and analyze the root cause of issues, but by using smart factories’ advantages, these difficulties may be effectively solved.
The production line can be swiftly restored and problems can be minimized since data can be used to quickly analyze the present state and the reason. A more stable production line may be constructed by identifying the root cause and averting the recurrence of related issues.
Smart factory-related technologies
Digital twins, augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) are important technologies associated with smart manufacturing.
These technologies are crucial for streamlining, streamlining, and streamlining production processes. The examples of each technology’s applications are shown below.
I.T.
IoT stands for “Internet of Things.” This technology gathers data from the real world using wireless connections, cameras, and embedded sensors in products. IoT devices in a smart factory include sensors integrated into the gear and equipment used on the manufacturing line.
Artifical intelligence, or AI
“Artificial intelligence” (AI) is a shorthand for technology that enables computer programs to think, learn, and interpret data much like people. Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be utilized in a smart factory to precisely evaluate gathered data in order to spot abnormalities and make future predictions.
AR (Augmented Reality)
The word “augmented reality,” or “AR,” refers to a technology that superimposes digital data on the physical environment. AR may be utilized in smart factories to view AI prediction findings and use them for assembly and industrial tasks.
virtual counterpart
A “digital twin” is a model that replicates real-world data in virtual space by digitizing it. This enables you to simulate or analyze the behavior of manufacturing equipment and equipment in real-time on your computer or terminal. A comparable notion is cyber-physical systems (CPS).
Examples of smart factories in the country
Electric Fuji
Power reception and distribution equipment is made at Fuji Electric’s Otawara Factory, which is being developed into a “smart factory.” IoT technology has been used by factories to increase industrial productivity, but they required a strategy to optimize its benefits rather than merely implement the technology.
The Ohtawara Factory has therefore implemented a “dashboard” that centralizes all data, from production lines to production information for the whole factory and management information, and visualizes it in real time in order to optimize the entire operation. You can now see crucial data in real-time, like quality, manufacturing progress, utilization rates, and energy usage, using this dashboard.
This enables you to respond promptly in the event that an issue arises on-site. For instance, if changes in production takt time were seen on the dashboard, the reason might be found and remedies implemented by examining camera video and operational data.The Ohtawara plant was able to achieve a 5% increase in productivity by repeating this cycle.
Toshiba
Toshiba’s manufacturing Technology Center is working to realize the concept of a smart factory by collaborating not only with other departments like sales and general affairs but also with diverse staff members who are engaged in design and manufacturing. and is often brought up for discussion.
This enhances their capacity to provide tangible outcomes in their job by enabling each person in charge to independently adopt technologies like IoT and AI.
Furthermore, we use a cyber-physical system (CPS) to evaluate business process events, enhance business processes by implementing a digital PDCA cycle, and facilitate the development of smart factories.
East Japan NTT
IoT equipment, including sensors and cameras, were placed to monitor temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, and other variables in a demonstration experiment carried out by NTT East. The project included introducing IoT technology inside sake brewing tanks and filtering rooms.
Thanks to this project, it is now feasible to save data in the cloud and do a detailed check on the state of moromi even when one is located remotely.
For people in charge of businesses thinking about becoming digital
The second-largest ICT business in Vietnam, CMC business, has a Japanese affiliate called CMC Japan. We use the technical expertise and know-how that the CMC Group has developed over 30 years to assist the projects of our clients.It’sOur staff of multilingual account managers is eager to assist your manufacturing business strategy, and we possess a thorough grasp of Japan’s dynamic manufacturing sector.
