AI Technology Catch here
Transforming manufacturing with the help of automation
By Jason Chester, director of global channel programs, InfinityQS T
he emergence of smart automation is probably one of the biggest trends taking place within the automation industry presently. Traditionally automation has focused mainly on a form of highly mechanised processes that follow precise rules, but the Industrial Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing are changing that. Automation is becoming smarter, with closed-loop automated systems able to sense, understand and adapt to the current environment, as well as being able to predict and respond to future events. Combine the rise of smart automation with the manufacturing industry and you could very well have yourself a perfect combination. But what makes automation and manufacturing a great match and why should manufactures turn towards automation?
The benefits of automation Manufacturers face increasingly competitive markets, which are driven by a number of factors. These include regional and global markets, evolving consumer trends, online eCommerce platforms and advances in global logistics and distribution. To remain competitive, manufacturers have to continually optimise their manufacturing operations by minimising cost (through improvements in efficiency and productivity), maximising value (such as improvements in quality, agility and flexibility) and mitigating risk (such supply chain risks, quality risks, demand volatility and economic instability).
www.cieonline.co.uk
Automation provides a number of advantages to manufacturers in addressing these challenges, such as: • Productivity – Increasing the overall output for a given amount of input by greater utilisation of human resources, materials and machinery.
• Efficiency – Achieving a given level of output with fewer inputs by reducing waste across human resources, materials and machine capacity.
• Sustainability – Increasing productivity, efficiency and decreasing resource waste can improve sustainability through reducing the use of natural resources, energy and carbon emissions.
• Workforce optimisation – Automation frees up workers from performing high volume, mundane and repetitive tasks. This allows the workforce to focus on other activities such as problem solving, innovation and continuous improvement.
• Accuracy – Removing error prone and variable manual process with highly accurate and repeatable automated processes.
• Safety – Reducing operator involvement in manufacturing process provides greater levels of safety for operatives.
• Quality – Improving overall product quality and consistency.
Pairing the two together doesn’t come without its challenges
One of the most significant challenges is not with the automation technologies themselves, which have now built up a strong track record and clear evidence of success and benefits. Instead, the
challenge is with the resistance to automation from the larger workforce, unions and society at large. Automation is seen by many as simply a threat to jobs and income. As the move to more automated manufacturing environments progress, executives must balance the concerns with the impact on the workforce with the commercial and competitive needs of the business. Yet, this is juxtaposed with the changing nature and economics of the workforce. Manufacturers find it increasingly difficult to source low-cost labour, which makes even capital-intensive automation projects look increasingly attractive. The next generation workforce is also becoming better educated and skilled, leading more people entering the manufacturing sector at a higher level. As a result, this will see a shift in the workforce, with more manual (“blue-collar”) roles giving way to skilled knowledge-workers (“white-collar”). With the availability of advanced industrial IT solutions to support those workers, this trend will continue to evolve. The wider industrial sector faces a major inter-generation problem, not too dissimilar to the industrialisation and automation of the agricultural sector a century ago.
Current & future trends Automated systems are also becoming increasingly integrated and connected with both wider manufacturing and supply chain environments. While traditional automation focuses on very specific tasks or process areas,
smart automation capabilities extend to become reactive and adaptive to events across a wider scope. Variability in an upstream process means that downstream processes can learn to adapt in order to continue to perform optimally, without operator intervention.
New automation business models will also start to emerge. For example, GE’s famed business model provides jet engines to airlines through a quasi-subscription type model – or ‘power by the hour’. This continuing trend will start to appear in automation business models including ‘asset-as-a-service’ rather than requiring large upfront capital-intensive investments. Another emerging, but critically important trend is the scope of what we automate. Traditionally, automation has focused on physical processes and routine control tasks, however cognitive automation will become increasingly prevalent with important decisions being made quicker and more accurately by intelligence-based systems.
The future looks bright
The future of automation within manufacturing could provide a greater level of integration and alignment of Quality Intelligence approaches, both from a technology and business process perspective. Today, quality is often a separate process and while automation is largely focused on the automation of physical processes, quality control, inspection and monitoring are often still performed manually either during or after the production process.
It is not uncommon to see manual quality processes being performed alongside highly automated production environments. By integrating Quality Intelligence more closely within automation environments, manufacturers will have a much greater level of visibility and insight into the performance of the manufacturing and quality processes.
infinityqs.co.uk
Components in Electronics December/January 2021 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
