Smart Factory
A Smart Factory is a highly-integrated digital ecosystem. It uses connected technologies and machinery, AI, and IoT sensors to collect real-time data. This level of data allows manufacturers to optimize production, automate tasks, and even predict failures that could cause downtime.
Key Takeaways
Flexible, highly automated, fully integrated digital factory
Connected tech with Industry 4.0 and IIoT
Continuous improvement (kaizen) through data collection
Optimized, lean, and often agile
Difference Between Smart Factory and Smart Manufacturing
Smart manufacturing is the technology and best practices used by a Smart Factory. On the other hand, a Smart Factory is a facility that uses smart manufacturing to improve production.
They are both similar terms, especially within the context of modern industry. To remember the difference:
- Think of Smart Manufacturing as the practice.
- Think of a Smart Factory as the environment where these processes run.
For example, using sensors to check product specifications is a smart manufacturing method. A production site that uses sensors in its IIoT architecture would be a Smart Factory.
Challenges of Smart Factories
Smart factories are the future of manufacturing. But challenges can come to the surface. These could become problems if you are not careful.
- Require higher security standards
- Require full collaboration between IT and OT
- Potentially costly depending on machinery and tech stack
- Possibility of collecting data with no clear plan for analyzing
- Increasing reliance on digital skills requires incremental upskilling of workforce
These points reveal that developing a Smart Factory without a clear plan and framework could sabotage the digital transformation. Therefore, these challenges remain potential rather than certain, particularly when organizations implement smart manufacturing practices with care.
Advantages of Smart Factories
The benefits of Smart Factories are many. Today, people find more as IoT devices devices and other technologies improve.
- Optimized efficiency and productivity
- Reduced waste (downtimes, materials excess, inventory)
- Better quality control and proactive quality planning throughout production
- Predictive capabilities for maintenance and demand forecasting
- Increased workflow visibility for troubleshooting
- Safer and less repetitive work for floor employees
- Increased energy efficiency for net zero emissions goals
As your Smart Factory becomes more connected, you will see more benefits.
You will gain a flexible digital ecosystem. No limit exists to what you can improve in your production processes. Use targeted data collection and actionable insights to drive better results.
How to Become a Smart Factory
Smart Factory transformation is not a one-size-fits-all process. However, Smart Factories rely on key elements that drive their success and appear across the board. Here are components of the model Smart Factory:
The Where: Robust Information Architecture
No Smart Factory would be complete without a robust information architecture to provide the foundation for connected manufacturing technology. Smart Factories succeed when they control their IT decisions. This is true whether they use cloud computing or a href="https://vksapp.com/dictionary/on-premises">on premises systems. Most Smart Factories use both options to scale production lines and reduce costs.
This foundation sets the stage for tuning into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The IIoT is a network of IoT devices like sensors and automated equipment that collect data for further analyzing. Without a clear understanding of your IT systems, you cannot take full advantage of the IIoT.
You also need a solid structure for your technology setup. Without these, the IIoT’s capabilities are hard to use.
The Why: Smart Manufacturing Methodologies
Most of the time, manufacturers build Smart Factories for one purpose: to optimize production and profit. This _Why _ strongly aligns with the following methods which seek to minimize waste and/or optimize workflows.
They may use both batch processing and continuous workflows. This depends on the company’s approach. It also depends on how leaders guide operations and workflow.
Manufacturers create long-term strategies by applying smart factory principles.
The What: Connected Factory Technology
Connected technologies are the what of the Smart Factory. This is the physical hardware and virtual software contributing to production by collecting data or organizing workflow. This includes things like Smart Forms, Business Intelligence software, and cyber-physical systems themselves.
Some Smart Factories see great benefits from automated IoT sensors. Others add in wearables to keep connected workers and a network of programmable logic controllers.
The most important thing about what tech Smart Factories depend on is that there is never just “one” thing. True Smart Factories rely on networks of devices and software that work together.
They create a clear, cohesive picture of operations. What’s critical is that Smart Factories integrate these capabilities using analytics.
The When: Integrated Analytics
The final critical component of a Smart Factory is big data analytics and when to use them. It pinpoints exactly when to optimize your production process. For example, predictive models can scrape data and indicate optimized scheduling for push-pull manufacturing updates.
Examples of data analytics are statistical process control (SPC), overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) measurements, orPareto charts and analyses. Collecting data isn’t enough; your software must sort, analyze, and apply it..
Examples of Smart Factories
Smart Factories exist across almost every manufacturing sector, but they aren't always obvious. Much of the data collection happens underneath the hood.
Smart Factories often share similar features but they can present in distinct ways. Nonetheless, here are some tangible examples of modern Smart Factories for easy reference:
1. Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric’s Smart Factory transformation began with tossing paper work instructions and replacing them with interactive and integrated visual work instructions.
Smart Forms increase traceability in the production life cycle. At any moment, Mitsubishi can refer to prior quality check forms. Using VKS’ ToolConnect feature, Mitsubishi ensures proper assembly everytime. For example, for each screw or bolt, ToolConnect measures the action performed and verifies the correct torque and angle.
Read more about how Mitsubishi Electric became more environmentally sustainable in its Smart Factory pursuit.
2. Valve Research
Valve Research reinvented its production processes by digitizing its assembly instructions along with capturing data on parts.
VKS automatically sends detailed job data and daily process forms (like electrical functioning) to supervisors. Valve Research primarily uses this data for process improvement. By analyzing these records, they can precisely measure and test changes in the assembly process to plan future workflows.
Read more about how Valve standardized assembly procedures using VKS software.
3. KONE
KONE Coal Valley meets Smart Factory standards by adding interactive work instructions and streamlined workflows to its ERP system.
For KONE, guidebooks cover standard best practices and safety protocols, varying only by material lengths and specific details. KONE links drawings and engineering plans directly inside the digital work instructions. This allows operators to see steps and specifications in a single, purpose-built system.
Because the format is paperless, KONE can update processes with one click. This makes it easy to track and improve. This is a major advantage for high-mix, low-volume (HMLV) manufacturing.
Read more about how KONE cut its production time by 75% by pursuing Smart Factory tools.
4. Schneider Electric
By using APIs and real-time data, Schneider Electric captured tribal knowledge and standardized it for the shop floor.
By using VKS, Schneider Electric Dinel has improved standardization, sustainability, and workforce independence. As a top manufacturer of sensors for data centers, smart homes, and sustainable buildings, the company helps people globally. They help people maximize their energy and resources.
Read more about how Schneider Electric has increased productivity by utilizing video demonstrations.
The Future of Smart Factories
The current age of manufacturing is Industry 4.0. Some industry experts believe that AI and robotics are already driving us toward Industry 5.0. Industry 5.0 focuses on the continued integration between humans and computers within manufacturing.
As companies push for upskilling and digital skill-sharing, the bond between humans and machines is only getting stronger.
Manufacturers will gain the most as AI advances, making big data central to the future of Smart Factories. That’s why it’s never too late to begin your digital transformation.
