Industry 4.0 is bridging the gap between process, machines and people using Big Data and analytics. It helps manufacturers to do more with less. In this digital era, there has been an overwhelming supply of emerging technologies, digital channels, etc. But its significance across the industry value chain is becoming more imperative now to raise the bar for adoption.
Companies help by reducing the capital cost and helping enterprises with 3D modelling system giving a total view of the factory to see beforehand concerns of plant manager like safety, operations and maintenance aspect of the plant. Meenu Singhal, VP, industry business, Schneider Electric India, says, “Our smart factories, designated as “light-houses,” deploy a broad range of technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As part of the Lighthouse Factory WEF, we make manufacturing smarter with our Ecostruxure Advisors and AVEVA software – under the IoT-enabled architecture of EcoStruxure and the role it plays in enabling a better customer experience and service. We were able to create a ‘template’ for other companies to imitate in our Smart Factory software suite.”
Along with the development and production of world-class factory automation products, Mitsubishi Electric also offers the e-F@ctory (Industry 4.0) concept. Sunil Mehta, GM, e-F@ctory (IIoT) promotions, factory automation & industrial division, Mitsubishi Electric India; chairman, CLPA India, says, “Smart factories are created by e-F@ctory utilising cutting-edge control like iQ-R controller platform, and high-speed networking technologies like CC-Link IE and CC-Link IE TSN (Time Sensitive Network) to visualise information. It helps to improve productivity while reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The e-F@ctory Alliance addresses the need for smart manufacturing for industries like automotive, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, among many others. In addition to this, we are currently in the process of introducing “Edgecross” – an open edge computing domain software platform based on our MELIPC (Industrial PC). Edgecross enables collaboration between FA and IT that contributes to the improvement of production sites, with various solutions that utilize production site data.”
The specific solutions an organisation needs to implement will be defined by its intended journey. Digital transformation is not a commodity – there’s no blueprint that will work for every company, and so any approach needs to be adapted to each company’s reality. Ruchi Mathur, head, commercial marketing, Rockwell Automation India, says, “At Rockwell, our approach has always been to listen to customers and understand their needs. And as we lay this customized approach out for our customers, Predictive Analysis seamlessly becomes a part of it. We have combined professional services, powerful machine-learning algorithms and predictive analytics software to offer predictive and prescriptive maintenance. With these new capabilities, industrial operators can predict maintenance needs and perform the necessary repairs before a failure occurs. This allows manufacturers to avoid costly downtime and improve productivity.”
However, Pradeep David, General Manager, South Asia, Universal Robots, has a different take. He says, “Our approach to digitalisation is dependent on the size of the customer and the assistance they require. For example, cobots may be a SMEs first digital deployment, thus being their first step towards Industry 4.0. Our experts would help identify the applications that are dull, dirty and dangerous for operators, and deploy cobots without changing the overall layout of the operation. Many large firms are cobot users as well, with integrated shop floors containing many types of automation equipment. For these customers, cobots are just one part of their integrated spectrum. As UR has an arsenal of communication protocols, we can connect via TCP/IP, Ethernet or Modbus. UR abides by the “Do-It-Yourself” concept where we teach manufacturers to programme the cobots to their exact needs without the need of any external help.”
Post COVID-19, the manufacturing landscape is increasingly becoming customised and on-demand and plant heads must navigate complex manufacturing processes toward achieving cost and production efficiencies. Kiran Divekar, director, DELMIA, India Dassault Systèmes, says, “The DELMIA applications on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enable C-suites and plant heads with digital continuity with back office and supply chain systems for fast and accurate change management, smart data integration and presentment with analytics, reporting and visualisation across the value chain; manage, orchestrate and monitor the full production process with real-time simulation on a 3D virtual shop floor virtual twin and in intelligent planning, scheduling and resourcing on a smart and data-integrated single source of truth.”
Meeting Challenges
The pandemic has meant a reduction of people in factories, and a push towards efficiency while reducing outlay. It also gave rise to shop floor automation. Singhal says, “Our IoT-enabled EcoStruxure architecture makes data useful across industries. Although Industry 4.0 offers clear business advantages, it has led to more integrated, dynamic and heterogeneous production networks. As a result, today’s manufacturing networks operate with increased cyber-incident risks. If it’s ransomware or a targeted, zero-day attack, these events can be identified with the right plan in place. In short, we need to design and build a cyber secured system, and align the workforce to follow cybersecurity guidelines set by the company.”
Data ownership concerns when choosing third-party vendors for hosting and operationalising company data is another challenge manufacturing company face. Mehta says, “Many companies have old installation bases with legacy controllers and that needs reconditioning or addition of some sensors, along with an economical controller to get the necessary information from equipment. Some industries with a large workforce may not be well conversant with technology. Training must be provided. A crucial point is that when implementing such solutions, one needs to have cross-functional teams involved from different departments, for effective planning and implementations, in a phase-wise manner.”
Customers demand innovative solutions that increase business agility, optimise productivity, and achieve sustainability objectives, while all the time seeking to lower total cost of ownership. Mathur says, “Our industrial control system design and engineering solutions help customers in defining value beyond machine and equipment costs; maximise performance; react quickly to change; increase profits, and innovate and attract new customers. Whether offering single components, entire systems, or specialised consultation, our goal is to offer personalised solutions that are scalable and deliver TCO thus driving productivity and sustainability for MSMEs as well as large corporations.”
In terms of cobots, one huge challenge that manufacturers face is that traditional robots are cumbersome to install and operate, and many do not have enough money or space to automate entire lines. David says, “Space, social distancing, skilled labour to operate them, and using them efficiently, is not everyone’s cup of tea. Collaborative Robots are a solution for all these problems and they can be learned in a day. They are programmed with safety features and manufacturers don’t need to use up much shop floor. With cobots, partial automation by automating one specific task at a time and choosing to move onto the next one as time permits is possible.”
With the virtual twin experience, manufacturers are modelling assets, products and processes to validate challenges. Divekar says, “It enhances lean management combining lean best practices and operational metrics on a collaborative digital platform. It’s an enabler of IIoT and manufacturing analytics is currently a lot of manufacturing heads are focused on connected devices contributing to a higher level of visibility.”
Seeing to Customers
Today, we live in a VUCA world. Singhal says, “To achieve promised benefits of the next-gen industrial environment, underlying technology infrastructure designs will need to incorporate and support three important attributes: Data-driven software-based automation; truly open systems; and integration of energy and automation. Universal automaton, which is open and collaborative, but based on standards, introduces users to a world of “plug and produce” applications (like the IT app store concept). It enables “à la carte” automation where cost and performance are optimized by assembling components without regard to vendor.”
Today, AI is an important technology supporting society. Machine learning is one field of AI, and deep learning is another. Mehta says, “Deep learning applications are being used in industries – from automated driving to medical devices. We are working towards embedding Mitsubishi Electric’s AI – MAISART technology in our products and solutions like collaborative robots and Edgecross to elevate manufacturing experience. The improvements in productivity through innovative technologies including Machine Learning, AI, VR and AR are more important today than ever before.”
The bottom line is that human-centric automation architectures can be designed that allow users to exercise greater control and make improvements to key business variables, most notably, profitability. The vendor-agnostic nature of universal automation means better interoperability. Reuse of existing assets in a modern context–regardless of the vendor who produced them–provides an easy and cost-effective method for keeping systems flexible and up-to-date.