Role of smart manufacturing is in collaboration

By OEM Update Editorial June 9, 2022 6:17 pm IST

Over the years machines were missing intelligence, which was augmented by Industry 4.0. Here we are adding real time data and making the machines intelligent, says Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India.

Today, only 8 to 10 percent of the tasks in manufacturing process are automated. There is a potential to increase this to 20 percent and even 25 percent in the next 5 to 6 years. Manufacturing is undergoing a paradigm shift to make it smart. But what is smart manufacturing.

Smart Manufacturing is an end-to-end solution of manufacturing right from sourcing, procurement, processing, manufacturing, distribution and warehousing – all connected together in an automated way. This entails, communication with suppliers, communication with customers, communication amongst machines with exchange of data based on cloud technology. In fact, we are merging physical with virtual to make manufacturing.

CESS:

• Cost effective 
• Efficient
• Sustainable • Safe.

Role of smart manufacturing is in collaboration. Here cyber physical systems will collect data and analyse this data and we are using that to make intelligent decisions and predict what is going to happen and manage that to optimize processes.

We are talking of Industry 4.0; Industrial Internet of Things; Artificial Intelligence aided by ‘Machine Learning and Augmented Reality and Virtual reality’. As we know machines are becoming intelligent. In fact, let us compare smart machines with the human body. We see with the eyes which is sensing; move with arms and hands which is equivalent to actuation; we process with the brain which is comparable to process control. Machines had the actuation function. Then we added sensors. Over the years machines were missing intelligence, which was augmented by Industry 4.0. Here we are adding real time data and making the machines intelligent. Through this, products can be made 30 percent faster and 25 percent cheaper.

We are going to see closer collaboration between humans and machines on the shop floor through ‘Cobots’ or as called collaborative robots. These light weight robots will be the extended arms of humans in a smart factory leading to job enrichment. I would like to highlight the 5 Ds where Cobots can collaborate with humans for certain tasks. 

These are – 

• Dull & Repetitive 
• Dangerous & Hazardous 
• Dirty & polluting 
• Difficult & Compulsory 
• Distancing and safety

The industry needs to be focused on closing the loop between data extraction and value creation. Whereas digitization makes it easy to capture, organise and manage a variety of data, digitalization in fact makes it possible to gain value from this data. 

To conclude, I would like to say that in Indian context, customers are looking for cost effective solutions. In fact, they would prefer Google speed but at Amazon costs.

Let me conclude with this quote from the famous Jeff Bezos. He said, “In Today’s era of volatility, there is no other way but to reinvent. The only sustainable advantage you can have over others is agility. Because nothing else is sustainable, everything else you create, somebody else will replicate.”