FEATURE Industry 4.0
The six key principles to create a Smart Factory
By Colin Koh, Senior Business Development Manager and Industry 4.0 Consultant at LKH Precicon
T
he smart factory concept is central to Industry 4.0. Descriptions compiled from industry studies and reports defi ne them as:
• Signifi cant improvement in the development of manufacturing businesses and their position in the supply chain. • Completely connected and fl exible systems, which rely on the constant data fl ow from connected production and operations systems.
• Beyond typical automation in a
production facility, especially in terms of executing discrete tasks or processes. Generally, smart factories are a combination of resources, processes and practices, generating value in the Industry 4.0 environment. Hence, a smart factory provides:
• Monitors, collects, coordinates,
controls and integrates data by using IT communications and data management technology. • Produces and distributes manufactured goods more quickly in response to market demand.
• Uses intelligent agents and other cyber- physical systems (CPS) to operate more effi ciently.
• Uses automated agents to optimise complex production decisions typically relegated to humans.
• Uses digital connectivity to collaborate with suppliers, customers, partners and departments within the facility. • Can be connected to a global network of similar production systems and the digital supply chain.
• Evolves to meet the changing business goals of the organisation. • Adapts to and learns from new and changing conditions in real-time or near real time.
CPS play a critical role in this constant churning of technology and processes, adding add new capabilities to physical systems by merging computing and communication capabilities with physical processes.
34 July/August 2022 | Automation
The ‘smart’ in Smart Factory “Industry 4.0: The Fourth Industrial Revolution” is a study by the I-Scoop consultancy, which describes the smart factory indirectly by suggesting functional requirements that each smart factory should include or use. These requirements, which emphasise what is possible today with existing technology, are based on six basic factory design principles: 1. Modularity – an approach that enables system components to be assembled, disassembled and recombined quickly and easily. On the production fl oor, this translates into being able to add, relocate or rearrange components in the production line with minimal time and eff ort. A highly-modular smart factory design enables the rapid integration of smart assets, which can be supplied by multiple vendors. 2. Interoperability – This approach ensures technical information is shared between and within systems, manufacturing enterprises, suppliers and customers.
3. Decentralisation – This is a core tenet of Industry 4.0, with the focus being on autonomous system elements (modules, material handling systems, products located anywhere on the production fl oor, etc.), with the CPS making decisions without regulation by centralised control (man or machine). 4. Real-time capability – Based on the modularity the smart factory should be confi gured/self-confi gured to respond to the change, internally and externally,
on time. This fast response is based on the capability of collecting and analysing up-to-date data. With the capability, manufacturers will gain the insights of root cause and predict potential risk of unplanned shutdown, as well as schedule the production line shift based on the ever- changing customer demand. 5. Virtualisation – This process combines physical manufacturing systems, their digital equivalents and process data to create a virtual factory environment, where it is possible to: • Monitor, control and simulate physical systems and processes.
• Send data to update the virtual model in real time.
• Make design changes to the factory by creating digital prototypes. • Train the workforce to perform manual tasks.
• Diagnose and predict faults. • Guide employees in maintenance tasks. 6. Service orientation – This design principle shifts the focus from selling products to selling products and services. Smart factories with a service-orientation strategy will design and produce products, create related services and sell them together. This approach encourages the innovative improvement of core processes and, if necessary, the outsourcing or elimination of other processes.
CONTACT:
LKH Precicon
www.precicon.com.sg
automationmagazine.co.uk
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