Use a few diagrams to simply illustrate the transformation path of equipment management in digital factories

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“ Before the formal article, let’s talk about cars. As the largest manufacturing sector, the automobile industry is also a great topic of conversation in everyday life. Having a car has been the dream of many people since childhood. Everyone who owns a car wants their vehicle to have fewer malfunctions – for safety reasons, lower fuel consumption – for economic reasons, and less noise – for comfort. Additionally, they want to extend the vehicle’s lifespan so that it can be sold at a good price. So how can this be achieved? It is essential for routine maintenance. ” Before starting: Check the tires and tire pressure, look for any bulges, check for scratches on the vehicle body, ensure there are no obstructions in the surrounding area; in winter, also check whether there are any animals inside the engine compartment that are warming up ； After starting: start the engine and check the dashboard for any warning signals. Over 90% of the wear on engine components occurs within three minutes after the engine is started when it’s cold; the engine speed should not exceed 3,000 revolutions per minute, with a typical operating speed of around 2,000 revolutions per minute while the engine is warm ； Daily: Perform refueling, adding glass fluid, and filling with gas to maintain the oil level, thereby preventing the pumping pump from not receiving adequate cooling due to low or no oil levels ； Others: Pay attention to fuel consumption, the condition of the car engine, and the overall condition of the vehicle; carry out periodic maintenance such as replacing filters, changing engine oil, performing wheel alignment, and even conducting major repairs – cleaning the engine cylinders, replacing pistons, tires, ignition systems, etc. The way we treat our cars determines how they treat us in return. Some cars stop working after just a few years, often breaking down on the road, which is costly and causes delays; while other cars remain in good condition even after more than a decade, allowing them to be sold at a good price as used cars. Everyone surely thinks these are very objective and practical, but this method originated not in the use of cars, but in manufacturing equipment. This is also the traditional TPM management model for equipment. So, what changes will take place in the equipment management of digital factories? We use 4 images to illustrate it. ▼ 01—Equipment production status: Moving from traditional 2D static representations to 3D dynamic ones, digital twins are created to enable more precise monitoring of the current status; combined with camera systems, this results in a combat command framework that integrates the virtual and the real. ▼ 02—Equipment monitoring status: Shift from traditional on-site maintenance to AI-driven remote maintenance guidance ； There has been a shift from traditional, experience-based planned maintenance to intelligent predictive maintenance that relies on big data analysis and iterative calculations. As illustrated in the figure below, taking the spindle, a typical component in the manufacturing industry, as an example: ▼ 03—Equipment management documents: These have evolved from traditional paper-based documents to ones that can be retrieved through systems or viewed via apps, enabling paperless operations. Equipment management is a highly complex and specialized task. Traditional equipment management documents are overly redundant and isolated from one another. By utilizing information systems to turn structured documents into text and digital formats, their use becomes much simpler and more practical; furthermore, APP tools can provide additional flexibility. ▼ 04—Equipment management data: Moving from traditional manual evaluations to automatic collection of system KPIs, enabling more detailed, accurate, and timely data for informed decision-making.