In recent years, many companies in the manufacturing sector have been promoting smart factories using digital technologies such as IoT and AI, and this trend is spreading not only to large companies but also to small and medium-sized enterprises. This time, in addition to introducing the definition and benefits of smart factories, we will also provide examples of how smart factories can be used to solve the problems faced by small and medium-sized manufacturers.
What is a smart factory?
A smart factory is a factory that uses digital data to continuously and progressively improve production processes, increase quality and productivity. In particular, by connecting factory employees, equipment, facilities, management systems, etc. to the Internet, efficiency will be increased by collecting and analyzing all kinds of data.
The concept of “Industry 4.0 (Fourth Industrial Revolution)” introduced by the German government in 2011 is said to be the origin of the smart factory. It is a national project that aims to streamline production processes, transform existing value chains and create new business models, and indeed, German companies are rapidly achieving results and increasing their international competitiveness.
“Industry 4.0” will have a great impact worldwide, and the concept of “connected industries” was proposed in Japan in 2017. Smart factories are currently being actively promoted in Japan and are key to the continued growth of the manufacturing industry.
The Purpose and Benefits of Smart Factory
Manufacturing companies can gain various benefits by promoting smart factories. Here, we will introduce the purposes and benefits of smart factories.
Better productivity
In a smart factory, by collecting and analyzing data from all devices, equipment, and management systems in the factory, it is possible to control the operating status of equipment and malfunctions in real time. Efficiency is increased because you can quickly understand the factors that cause the deterioration of the operating speed and take appropriate measures.
For example, predictive maintenance using the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence has recently been implemented. It is possible to prevent production stoppages in the factory by using sensors to detect signs of equipment failure and to perform timely inspection and maintenance before the failure occurs.
Improving quality
Smart factories can improve quality by using technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, and robots. For example, if visual inspections are automated using image recognition AI, human errors such as oversights and negligence will be eliminated, and inspections can be performed with consistent accuracy. In addition, by introducing industrial robots to automate the work, it is possible to reduce changes and errors caused by workers and stabilize product quality.
In addition, if we collect and analyze all kinds of data within the factory, we can quickly detect the presence of faults and solve the problem quickly. Traceability will also be easier, and it will be possible to meet the strict quality demands of the market.
Improving profit margins
Factories should constantly strive to reduce production costs and make profits. However, smart factories attract attention because only traditional improvement activities have limitations.
In a smart factory, the working conditions of employees and equipment in the factory are optimized to enable efficient production. In addition, significant energy savings can be achieved by understanding where and how much energy is consumed in a factory and managing it correctly. It is believed that such efforts will reduce production costs and improve profit margins.
Inheritance of talent
Skill development has become a major issue in the manufacturing industry due to the effects of falling birth rates and an aging population. If nothing is done, skills will be lost when engineers retire or change jobs, which could reduce the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.
In smart factories, sensors read the movements of engineers and data is collected and analyzed to reveal skills. By using these skills to teach other engineers and work on automation in equipment, the problem of inheritance of skills can be solved.
Supply chain optimization
The benefits of smart factories are not limited to production within the factory. It is possible to optimize the entire supply chain using various data obtained from within the factory.
For example, by sharing the operating status with other factories and business partners, you can create the most suitable production plans that take into account operating rates. In addition, by sharing historical design data and production performance data between the design and production departments, it is possible to significantly reduce the preparation time required for the launch of a new product. Therefore, smart factories are not only an initiative for factories, but an initiative that the entire company must undertake.
Technologies and solutions required for smart factories
A variety of digital technologies and solutions must be used to implement a smart factory. Let’s take a look at what you need.
IOT
IoT is short for “Internet of Things” and is a technology known as the “Internet of Things”. Today, various objects have sensor and communication functions. The data obtained by the sensors is exchanged over the Internet, which is useful for analysis and control.
In order for a smart factory to be realized, all kinds of data must be collected within the factory. IoT is an indispensable technology for this purpose and can be said to be the basis of smart factories.
artificial intelligence
AI is the abbreviation of the word “artificial intelligence” and is a technology known as “artificial intelligence”. The software can learn itself like a human using learning techniques such as deep learning and can perform advanced analysis and predictions.
Artificial intelligence in smart factories mainly plays the role of analyzing the data collected by IoT. It is extremely difficult to manually analyze the huge amount of data known as big data, but this is possible with artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is also used in other applications such as controlling equipment and robots in the manufacturing industry and visual inspection.
Data infrastructure
In a smart factory, all kinds of data within the factory will be collected and analyzed. To achieve this, a data infrastructure that can store large amounts of data must be available.
In recent years, more and more companies have preferred cloud environments as their data infrastructure. Because the cloud is a technology that uses various services over the internet and is highly compatible with the above-mentioned IoT and AI. It also has the advantage of being offered at a low initial cost and reduces the effort required to run and manage servers.
Robot
Automation using robots is also necessary to realize a smart factory. While the labor shortage is becoming serious, there are still many jobs in factories that people do not have to do. By automating such work with robots, it will be possible to produce products efficiently with fewer people.
Moreover, automation through robots does not only help overcome the labor shortage. If robots are controlled by artificial intelligence that learns based on data, it is expected that the efficiency and quality of production will increase.
Network
The creation of a fast and stable network environment is also an important factor in smart factories where large amounts of data are sent throughout the factory. In this context, it is believed that “5G (Fifth Generation Mobile Communication System)”, which started commercial services in 2020, will be useful in the implementation of smart factories.
5G has the characteristics of “higher speed and larger capacity”, “higher reliability and lower latency” and “multiple simultaneous connections”, and is a technology that performs real-time analysis and simultaneous control of multiple devices. Recently, “native 5G”, where companies establish their own 5G networks, has been gaining attention.
Solutions to transform into smart factories
Otsuka Shokai offers a range of solutions that help the manufacturing industry transform into smart factories. Here we briefly introduce the features of six solutions.
Success Collection System “Success Team Leader”
“Success Team Leader” is an IoT performance collection system that collects real-time information from production facilities. By “visualizing” the production site and connecting it to core business systems such as production management, we support the search for optimal data-driven management.
“Success Team Leader” allows you to record and collect the results of manual work and other tasks in real time using a tablet. It is also possible to collect data on the operating status and performance of production equipment through various sensors and PLCs. Sensors can also collect information such as voltage and temperature, which can also be used for equipment maintenance.
Factory NYC IoT visualization system for the manufacturing industry
“Factory NYC (Nice)” is an IoT system that uses wireless communication modules/gateways, sensors, and tablet terminals to centrally monitor the operating status and progress of production facilities, preventive maintenance of equipment, etc. By displaying and analyzing the collected data in graphs, we can quickly discover areas for improvement and reduce administrative work.
At “Factory NYC”, we can retrofit sensors to collect data from devices regardless of their model or year. Even old devices can be easily converted to IoT at low cost, allowing you to efficiently use existing devices when building a smart factory.
Dot Data AI Analysis Service
“dotData AI Analysis Service” is a comprehensive service that not only allows you to make predictions and analysis using the latest artificial intelligence, but also provides consultants and advice to small and medium-sized enterprises based on the analysis results. It can be used for various purposes, such as optimizing production through quality prediction, predicting equipment failure, and forecasting demand.
The “dotData” used in this service is a software that automates much of the data science process, which is the most difficult AI to use. Analysis that used to take months can now be completed in just a few days, allowing you to quickly start making improvements to your production facility.
AI Image Decision Validation Package “MMEye Box”
“MMEye Box” is an AI image evaluation service that highly automates visual inspection in various fields. Using deep learning and unique preprocessing technology, even irregularly shaped objects such as food can be inspected with human-like accuracy.
AI image evaluation cannot provide high accuracy for all objects, so initial verification before actual operation is extremely important. “MMEye Box” is an in-house service that allows you to perform as many verifications as you want within your company, allowing you to work on automated visual inspections with peace of mind.
Tayoreru AI chatbot service
“Tayoreru AI Chatbot Service” is a service that provides chatbots using the latest AI that excels in natural language processing. You can create a chatbot by following the steps on the management screen.
In the manufacturing sector, chatbots are used to automate internal and external inquiries and to collect and share information within the company. By storing information such as your company’s working standards, past performance, and the knowledge of experienced engineers in the chatbot, and ensuring that everyone in charge can access the information they need at any time, these problems can be solved. skills.
Manufacturing Management System “Manufacturing Innovation Family”
“Manufacturing Innovation Family” is Otsuka Shukai’s original manufacturing management system that uses customer requests in product development. It consists of six sector/industry-specific package systems and is compatible with the assembly, processing and compound industries.
“Manufacturing Innovation Family” addresses various manufacturing management issues such as order, inventory, quality and cost. In addition, since it is an all-in-one package that integrates production and sales with the sales management system “SMILE”, it is possible to digitalize a wide range of manufacturing industry operations in general.
Examples of smart factory initiatives.
Otsuka Shokai supports the transformation of small and medium-sized manufacturers into smart factories with the various solutions described above. We will introduce case studies of customers who are actually working on smart factory transformation.
Nihon Handa Co., Ltd.
Nihon Handa Co., Ltd. is a company that manufactures and sells solder paste and mold solder. We are working to create a system that can collect performance information from production sites in real time and accurately, and realize real-time reflection of production results and utilization of collected performance data in real time.
Previously, daily production reports were made on paper after work was finished, and each field manager would manually enter performance information into the system accordingly. However, if they were busy, they would have to work overtime or complete data entry the next day, which would make it difficult to collect accurate data in real_time by systematically performing preventive maintenance on equipment based on this information, it is now possible to prevent losses and deterioration of product quality due to malfunctions.
Therefore, we introduced the IoT performance collection system “Success Team Leader”. By combining “Manufacturing Innovation Ryu-jin”, which was already introduced as a production management system, with “Success Team Leader”, we have created a system that supports detailed performance information to be entered into the tablet in real time. . As a result, we no longer need to worry about time delays in input data, which reduces overtime and increases data accuracy.
In addition, we have succeeded in “visualizing” detailed information such as equipment operating status and downtime, which have not been fully understood in the form of numerical values until now. Based on this information, it is now possible to prevent losses caused by failures and deterioration of product quality by systematically performing equipment preventive maintenance.
Japan Automatic Controller Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Japan Automatic Controller Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a company that manufactures and sells industrial valves. With the aim of improving operational efficiency, automation and “formal”, we have developed our production management system and succeeded in establishing a management basis that enables data-based decision making.
Previously, internal instructions from orders to design and production were transmitted on paper. Not only were there many inefficiencies due to paper-based processes such as double entry, double checks and paper scheduling, but the company was also unable to use data to increase efficiency.
Therefore, we implemented the “Manufacturing Innovation Raigen” production management system to improve our operations. Before putting the system into operation, we established a project team, listened closely to the problems and requests of each department, and tried to align our company’s workflow with the standard functions of the system as much as possible.
By implementing a production management system, the company was able to eliminate approximately 40% of traditional paper-based work and reduce the overall workload to five people. In addition, by displaying all kinds of data such as profit margins, on-time delivery rates, and defect rates, the importance of data is spread throughout the company and an environment is created where business improvements can be made.
How to proceed with the smart factory transition?
Transforming the manufacturing industry into smart factories is not an easy thing to do. We need to understand the right path and work hard to overcome the challenges. Here we will explain how to proceed with the smart factory transition in three steps.
[Step 1] Define the purpose of the smart factory.
When promoting smart factories, we should always be aware of the overall optimization. If each department works on its own initiative without communicating with each other, the efforts of one department may disrupt the other departments.
If you want to move forward with the smart factory transformation, start from the early stages by forming a project team consisting of core members from each department and sharing what your company’s goal should be. By clarifying the goal of the smart factory transformation considering your company’s problems and strategies, each department can work together to move the initiative forward.
[Step 2] Start small and move forward slowly with introductions.
In the first stage of the smart factory transformation, it is recommended to focus on high-priority issues and areas where it is easy to gain benefits, starting small and moving forward with the introduction of digital technology. You can reduce the risk of failure by moving step by step with overall optimization in mind.
For example, effective initiatives include introducing AI to analyze collected data and content, and implementing IoT with retrofit sensors instead of replacing existing devices. You can also reduce deployment costs by maximizing the use of standard functions and minimizing customization when deploying a system.
[Step 3] Review and improve while measuring the impact of implementation
When building a smart factory, it is important to iterate on improvements using the PDCA cycle. Let’s quantitatively measure the impact of implementing digital technology, evaluate whether the expected effect has been achieved, and then make improvements. It will take a long time to implement a smart factory, but if you continue to make small improvements, you will get closer.
Measuring the impact of implementation also helps to increase employee motivation. By sharing small implementation effects from an early stage, employees can maintain their motivation to work on the smart factory transformation.
Summary
This time, we introduced the keyword “Smart Factory” for the manufacturing industry. Transforming into a smart factory is an enterprise-wide initiative and is not something that can be achieved easily. However, there is no doubt that this will bring great benefits to the manufacturing industry and the transition to smart factories in the industry will continue to progress. How about using this article as a reference and gradually transforming your company into a smart factory?