'Substantial increase' in digital spending accelerates manufacturing innovation
发布时间：2024年6月3日 09:44
459
Omnifactory at the University of Nottingham
Adapting to the digital climate caused by unique global challenges over the past few years is crucial for businesses wanting to maintain a competitive edge and stay relevant in a changing market.
Adapting to the digital climate caused by unique global challenges over the past few years is crucial for businesses wanting to maintain a competitive edge and stay relevant in a changing market.
There has been a substantial increase in spending on digital technologies across the globe as well as the development and application of innovative technologies, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Manufacturing Industry Outlook. This doesn’t only apply to plant-level processes; the report also states that companies with greater digital maturity showed better resilience and improved supply-chain visibility owing to greater agility and adaptability. In the report, Deloitte says that 60% of manufacturers plan to invest in data analytics, and 39% are upping their focus on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.
At the beginning of March Rockwell Automation acquired Knowledge Lens, an Indian services and solutions provider that delivers business insights from enterprise data, combining digital technologies with deep data science, artificial intelligence and engineering expertise, to augment Rockwell’s digital services business, Kalypso, and to accelerate transformational outcomes for its manufacturing customers.
Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice-president of Rockwell’s lifecycle services segment, said: “Data offers enormous advantages for those manufacturers able to harness its full potential. But for many, only a fraction of the data generated by their plants and in their supply chains is ever used.”
Boost for 5G
Chinese telecommunications company ZTE has leveraged digital intelligent technologies to set up a ‘Global 5G Intelligent Manufacturing Base’ in Nanjing, in which it uses 5G technology to manufacture 5G equipment.
ZTE claims to apply 5G cloud-based AGV and PLC, 5G machine vision, 5G inspection robot, digital twin and other 5G-enabled technologies to its manufacturing process, achieving optimisation and upgrading of managing industrial parks, production lines and working procedures, resulting in autonomous production in a ‘dark factory’.
Chen Zhiping, vice-president of branding at ZTE, said: “The factory has increased the average output per person by 113%, decreased the rate of missed inspections of assembly quality by 80%, shortened the delivery cycle by 48%, and reduced the energy consumption of each product by 10%.”
Technology testbed
A £3.8m facility has been opened at the University of Nottingham that aims to revolutionise the manufacturing industry by making it more efficient and cost-effective. It is funded by Innovate UK and aligned to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme.
The concept, called Omnifactory, will improve traditional manufacturing processes with its bespoke testbed floor that autonomously reconfigures itself to the next product’s environment and specifications, reshaping itself through a combination of digital technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence.
More competitive
Professor Alan Norbury, chief technologist at Siemens Digital Industries which is supporting the facility’s development, says: “Omnifactory creates a blueprint for how future factories will enhance the competitiveness of British manufacturers. This new space will support industry in developing, testing and validating new digital manufacturing applications and their rapid implementation across all sectors.”
The facility is already working with several businesses that operate in a variety of sectors, including Airbus, and GKN on its ELCAT project.
Operational data, when analysed effectively by IoT and AI systems, can allow manufacturers to make improvements on everything from productivity to waste production, energy consumption and equipment downtime – which itself comes at a significant cost.
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
At the beginning of March Rockwell Automation acquired Knowledge Lens, an Indian services and solutions provider that delivers business insights from enterprise data, combining digital technologies with deep data science, artificial intelligence and engineering expertise, to augment Rockwell’s digital services business, Kalypso, and to accelerate transformational outcomes for its manufacturing customers.
Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice-president of Rockwell’s lifecycle services segment, said: “Data offers enormous advantages for those manufacturers able to harness its full potential. But for many, only a fraction of the data generated by their plants and in their supply chains is ever used.”
Boost for 5G
Chinese telecommunications company ZTE has leveraged digital intelligent technologies to set up a ‘Global 5G Intelligent Manufacturing Base’ in Nanjing, in which it uses 5G technology to manufacture 5G equipment.
ZTE claims to apply 5G cloud-based AGV and PLC, 5G machine vision, 5G inspection robot, digital twin and other 5G-enabled technologies to its manufacturing process, achieving optimisation and upgrading of managing industrial parks, production lines and working procedures, resulting in autonomous production in a ‘dark factory’.
Chen Zhiping, vice-president of branding at ZTE, said: “The factory has increased the average output per person by 113%, decreased the rate of missed inspections of assembly quality by 80%, shortened the delivery cycle by 48%, and reduced the energy consumption of each product by 10%.”
Technology testbed
A £3.8m facility has been opened at the University of Nottingham that aims to revolutionise the manufacturing industry by making it more efficient and cost-effective. It is funded by Innovate UK and aligned to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme.
The concept, called Omnifactory, will improve traditional manufacturing processes with its bespoke testbed floor that autonomously reconfigures itself to the next product’s environment and specifications, reshaping itself through a combination of digital technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence.
More competitive
Professor Alan Norbury, chief technologist at Siemens Digital Industries which is supporting the facility’s development, says: “Omnifactory creates a blueprint for how future factories will enhance the competitiveness of British manufacturers. This new space will support industry in developing, testing and validating new digital manufacturing applications and their rapid implementation across all sectors.”
The facility is already working with several businesses that operate in a variety of sectors, including Airbus, and GKN on its ELCAT project.
Operational data, when analysed effectively by IoT and AI systems, can allow manufacturers to make improvements on everything from productivity to waste production, energy consumption and equipment downtime – which itself comes at a significant cost.
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Share:
Read more related articles
Education and skills Management Manufacturing
Read more related articles
Education and skills Management Manufacturing
