SOFTWARE UPDATE A conversation with Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Software offers ‘digital twin’ modeling of factory floor
Jon, your company recently released an update of
its manufacturing analytics platform. What’s new in Sight Machine 2.0? Our focus has always been on helping manufactur-
ers improve quality, productivity and visibility. In Sight Machine 2.0, among other things, we’ve added a set of enhancements to improve visibility. At the core of our platform is what we believe is the
world’s only plant digital twin. We’ve seen companies like GE and Siemens use the digital twin concept to describe digital models of individual machines like jet engines. By contrast, our plant digital twin offers sets of analytical models that mirror the entire produc- tion process, encompassing machines, lines, plants or supply chains. The breadth and depth of visibility
mandated traceability; distributed manufacturing; increas- ing customization and build-to-order; and growing de- mands to manage attenuated supply chains. Perhaps most important, manufacturing leadership at
many companies has deemed digital technology a strategic imperative. Major companies are investing heavily in build- ing out data strategies that ultimately link PLM and design, production, and product lifecycle data, as well as finance, and sales and marketing information. These efforts are seen as essential to achieving and sustaining leadership. Those com- panies that systematically develop capabilities to understand and use production data will lead; those that don’t will lag.
needed by a user depends a great deal on the user’s job function. Sight Machine 2.0 introduced Contextual- ized Dashboards, which can be configured to provide dif- ferent users with the views their roles demand. While the machine operator tracks sensors on an individual machine to monitor quality or troubleshoot, the corporate man- ager can perform analyses that encompass whole plants, divisions or regions. We’ve also added Global Ops View, which on one
screen lets executives track output in real time, world- wide or by country, plant, machine, machine type or contract manufacturer. The Downtime Classifier in Sight Machine 2.0 uses machine learning techniques to quickly identify the cause of unplanned downtime. It is calibrated during initial setup, and then continuously improves its capabilities through machine learning. We have also continually added more analytical tools and improved our existing ones.
How critical is it for builders in today’s manufacturing
environment to have manufacturing data analytics? Digital capabilities are increasingly seen as a must-have
for manufacturers. The first reason is that manufactur- ing analytics solve manufacturing’s perennial challenges: ensuring quality and improving productivity. Additionally, manufacturers are contending with new forces: legally-
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“Our plant digital twin offers sets of analytical models that mirror the entire production process, encompassing machines, lines, plants or supply chains.”
What manufacturing operations are best using this
type of technology today? This technology is appropriate for any type of manu-
facturing process where data is captured. Our current customers run the gamut of industries, including in the automotive sector [at OEM and supplier levels], apparel, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, personal care products, building materials and textiles. We’ve done implementa- tions ranging from a single machine to a manufacturing process that spans multiple plants and a broad range of production equipment and processes. We’re also working across links in the supply chain. One of our customers is using Sight Machine in plants owned and operated by its contract manufacturers.
Describe how one customer is processing billions
of data points per week, optimizing its global manufacturing. What are the productivity gains made with this type of technology? This company uses contract manufacturers in multiple
countries to make the same product. It invested heavily in new production equipment, which it configured and then installed at the contractor facilities. Each machine contains hundreds of sensors constantly outputting data.
Jon Sobel CEO
Sight Machine Inc.
www.sightmachine.com
March 2017
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