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source: Changhui Instruments http://yunrun.com.cn/ Currently, our country is vigorously promoting the construction of a manufacturing power, and intelligent manufacturing is undoubtedly the most important core strategy. exist * * Driven by the active promotion of smart manufacturing and the endogenous power of enterprises, manufacturing companies have embarked on the transformation journey of intelligent manufacturing. Smart manufacturing has supported many outstanding companies to become industry leaders, and even become global hidden champions in market segments. However, there are still many manufacturing companies that have many misunderstandings about "light and heavy" in their understanding and practice. This article combines the practice of e-works in intelligent manufacturing knowledge dissemination, consulting and training, and international inspections, and analyzes them one by one. It hopes to bring some enlightenment to the majority of manufacturing companies and help them avoid detours and achieve practical results in the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing. Misunderstanding 1. Emphasis on automation and neglect of digitalization. Currently, manufacturing companies are facing huge human resource cost pressure and difficulty in recruiting workers. Therefore, many discrete manufacturing companies are actively carrying out automation transformation of production lines. For some highly repetitive work stations, the company proposes process requirements and selects non-standard automation integrators to provide dedicated automation equipment to complete specific processes such as screwing, assembly, welding, marking, and testing, thereby replacing manual labor and achieving fewer people. At first glance, many production lines look quite advanced, but upon closer inspection, we find that on the one hand, many companies’ automated production lines can only adapt to a single variety and are not very flexible. ； On the other hand, many companies still do not pay enough attention to equipment networking and production line data collection, making it difficult to truly realize the visualization and transparency of the production process. It is also difficult for managers to understand the real-time conditions of the production site in a timely and accurate manner. Automated control systems are commonly used in the production lines of process manufacturing companies, but the application of digital technology is also relatively lagging behind, and there is also the problem of being disconnected from the automation system. On the other hand, some outstanding international companies attach great importance to realizing transparent factories and interconnected factories. When the e-works smart factory inspection team visited MAZAK's Oguchi factory in Japan, they saw that the company's staff can query the real-time status of a piece of equipment in Ningxia's Little Giant Factory (MAZAK subsidiary), including equipment usage status, OEE, output, quality, energy consumption and other information. Factories of companies such as KUKA and TRUMPF also attach great importance to the transparency of workshops. You can check the real-time status of workshops, production lines and each piece of equipment at any time. Rockwell Automation's electronics factory in Cleveland, USA, has truly made full use of the MES system. It can check the status of the nozzle of the placement machine in a timely manner to determine whether maintenance is needed. It can also see the execution status of each order, the status of workshop production scheduling and execution, the defect rate of each production line, etc., assisting managers to make timely adjustments and optimizations, and significantly improving production quality. e-works suggests that in the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, enterprises must pay equal attention to automation and digitalization. Automation is the foundation and value can be truly created through the application of digital technology. Misunderstanding 2: Emphasis on single-machine automation and emphasis on system flexibility. Many manufacturing companies attach great importance to purchasing CNC machining centers or sheet metal processing equipment. Many companies are also equipped with industrial robots for loading and unloading, but they are often still single-machine automation and have not yet applied flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) or flexible manufacturing cells (FMC). The production process also requires manual handling, resulting in the production of work-in-process inventory, and the OEE of high-end intelligent equipment is low. Leading international companies have begun to apply flexible manufacturing systems to achieve fully automatic and unmanned processing of different parts in machining and sheet metal processing. The machining FMS includes several machining centers, robot deburring units, cleaning units, rail conveyor vehicles and other equipment and control software. It is equipped with three-dimensional shelves to place workpieces and tooling, and can complete fully automatic processing from rough to fine. ； The FMS system for sheet metal processing can realize the entire sheet metal manufacturing process from sheet metal blanking, punching, bending to welding. The FMS system is not a new concept. Companies began to apply it thirty years ago. However, due to the lack of reliability and stability of early equipment, as well as the complexity of production scheduling and control of multiple equipment, some companies that applied FMS in the early days gave up the FMS system and returned to single-machine CNC machining centers. However, with the development of technologies such as automation, digitization and detection, FMS system technology has gradually matured in recent years, becoming an inevitable choice for discrete manufacturing companies to improve production efficiency. Misunderstanding 3: Focus on local transformation instead of overall optimization. Many companies attach great importance to automating bottleneck stations or stations that consume more labor and promote "machine substitution." Although this method can reduce labor and improve the efficiency of a single station, it has little significance in improving the overall efficiency of the production line, and often transfers bottleneck processes to other stations. The correct way is to use value stream mapping and other methods based on the concept of industrial engineering to optimize the production line as a whole based on the product type, output, batch size, manufacturing process, production capacity, production rhythm and in-process logistics transmission method. ； At the same time, the manufacturing process is optimized from the perspective of realizing automated processing and assembly to reduce the difficulty of automated transformation and try to meet the production and assembly of multiple variant products. For example, when a container manufacturing company served by the e-works consulting team was producing container side wall panels and roof panels, through process optimization, the original flat plate shearing → roller forming → panel spot welding → automatic welding was changed. The original longitudinal welds were changed to transverse welds, and the process was optimized to first weld the entire plate and then form. This not only reduced the length of the weld, but also facilitated automated transformation. It also successfully realized continuous automation of multiple processes from steel uncoiling to forming. When the e-works consulting team has been serving for a long time, another rail transit door manufacturing company optimized the workshop layout and balanced the rhythm based on the "one flow" principle of lean production during its automation transformation. This ensured the balance of the entire production system after the completion of the automation transformation, reduced the handling distance, and eliminated waste caused by production waiting and handling to the greatest extent. Misunderstanding 4: Emphasis on unit system application instead of overall planning and system integration. After decades of application, the functions of industrial software have been continuously refined, covering more and more businesses in manufacturing enterprises, and more and more information systems are used by enterprises. Many enterprises often build a set of information systems in order to solve a certain problem or type of problem and meet the needs of a certain business department or a certain business process. This leads to problems such as overlapping functions between systems, blurred boundaries, and diverse data sources. For example, a certain enterprise first introduced an ERP system, and later introduced an MES system due to the refined management of the production site. Later, due to the need for refined management of the warehouse, a WMS was introduced. All three systems have material management functions. This resulted in some documents needing to be repeatedly entered in multiple systems in different departments, and the same data was managed in multiple systems in different systems, resulting in problems such as low work efficiency and inconsistent data. There are more and more various types of information systems, and their functions are becoming more and more complex. However, there are many information islands. A lot of data needs to be exported from the system, processed, and then imported into another system. In order to obtain effective information, multiple systems need to be queried. When data changes, they cannot be transferred from the source system that receives the changes to other related systems in a timely manner. The company's operating efficiency has not improved, but has even declined, and the return on investment is not high. Some enterprises have already realized such problems. By dividing business and system boundaries, they simplify the process of data transfer between different systems, realize real-time sharing of data, ensure data accuracy, eliminate information islands, and provide a unified and consistent data source for enterprise operations and business analysis. e-works recommends that enterprises clarify business boundaries and system function boundaries, build a unified system integration solution, introduce a master data management system (MDM), and achieve unified management of data integration and interfaces of each system during the implementation process to avoid problems such as data breakpoints and repeated interface development. In practice, the e-works consulting team helps enterprises sort out their business processes, combine the manufacturing enterprise's development strategy, management and control model, industry characteristics, standards and regulations, and through current situation diagnosis, demand analysis and overall planning, clarify the enterprise's goals, action plans and investment estimates for promoting digital transformation and intelligent manufacturing, determine the overall framework, integration plan and implementation roadmap of digital systems and automation systems, provide support for the enterprise's overall promotion of intelligent manufacturing, and achieve significant results. e-works believes that manufacturing companies must change the vertical unit system implementation and application model, try to avoid overlapping software system functions, leading to duplication of investment and other problems, so that the digital and automation systems invested by the company can achieve the expected results. Manufacturing enterprises should combine the application of industrial software with related technologies such as intelligent equipment, data collection, industrial control networks, factory simulation, production line planning, AGV and three-dimensional warehouse applications, carry out overall planning for intelligent manufacturing, and implement unit systems under the guidance of the overall planning ； At the same time, we must follow the trends of cloud computing, componentization, and microservices to upgrade the enterprise digital system architecture. Misunderstanding 5: Emphasis on construction and neglect of operation and maintenance. In the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, manufacturing companies generally attach importance to construction and neglect operation and maintenance. During the system procurement and implementation stage, companies will carry out demand analysis, system assessment, feasibility analysis and bidding selection. Senior leaders of major projects will also participate in the decision-making process and invest a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. However, after the system went online, there was a lack of continuous operation and maintenance. The application software was not maintained and upgraded for many years. The gap between the system functions and the actual business processes became wider and wider, making it difficult to realize the value of the system. ； Automated production lines also have problems such as untimely maintenance and high failure rates. A company served by the e-works consulting team has applied an internationally renowned ERP system, but it has not been continuously operated and maintained for seven years since it was launched. The company's business model, organizational structure and business processes have undergone great changes, resulting in a growing gap between the ERP system and the company's actual needs. The business department has great opinions. ； At the same time, the functions of the new version of the ERP system are also very different from the old version of the enterprise application. The cost of re-upgrading for the enterprise is almost the same as re-purchasing. The secondary development modules made on the old version also need to be re-developed. The development of enterprises is dynamic, and the only constant is change. Therefore, e-works recommends that enterprises should fully consider the flexibility, platform, configurability and scalability of the system when selecting information systems. ； At the same time, enterprises also need to maintain and upgrade systems in a timely manner. The enterprise's IT team must be able to promptly reconfigure the information system according to changes in enterprise needs, minimize language-level secondary development, and focus on IT governance. Misunderstanding 6. Emphasis on digital design and neglect of digital simulation and optimization. In recent years, manufacturing companies have continued to increase their investment in product research and development (R&D) and purchased software such as 3D CAD and CAE. However, most companies still emphasize product development (Development) and neglect research (Research). They mainly design products based on customer order requirements and do not do enough research and exploration of cutting-edge technologies. In terms of system applications, digital design software is widely used, and some companies have extended to digital processes. However, the application of simulation technology is still at the initial stage. It mainly performs motion simulation, structure and fluid simulation and verification, and has not yet realized simulation-driven design and multi-physics simulation analysis and optimization design. Simulation applications are not systematic, and there is a lack of management of simulation specifications, simulation processes, and material databases. Simulation personnel have not established specialized organizations, and the value of simulation software is far from being fully utilized. Among international advanced manufacturing companies, simulation has become an important means to enhance product research and development capabilities, improve manufacturing processes, and improve product performance and reliability. Simulation technology is also constantly innovating, realizing real-time simulation. Simulation software is more user-friendly. Digital design and simulation can achieve two-way integration. Software systems that integrate the design and simulation analysis of specific products (such as gears, bearings, power batteries, motors, etc.) have also emerged. The application of simulation technology can help companies reduce physical testing and significantly reduce R&D costs, making it an inevitable choice for companies to improve their innovation capabilities. In terms of smart factory construction, factory simulation software can also be used to simulate equipment and production line layout, factory logistics, ergonomics and assembly processes to establish a Digital Twin of a real factory. After complex intelligent products (such as wind turbines and aerospace engines) are put into use, the product's Digital Twin can also be simulated based on the data collected by the product's built-in sensors to analyze and predict the operating status and fault hazards of the real product, make timely adjustments, and perform predictive maintenance. e-works suggests that in the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, enterprises must pay equal attention to digital design and digital simulation and optimization. Digital design is the basis of simulation, and digital simulation and optimization technology should be applied to improve product performance. ； At the same time, in the application process of simulation technology, it is necessary to pay attention to the analysis and utilization of simulation specifications and standards, simulation processes, and simulation results to achieve simulation knowledge management. Misunderstanding 7. Emphasis on information system application and neglect of data value realization and management improvement. Many manufacturing companies have applied many information systems in the process of digital transformation, but the effects and values of system application are uneven. On the one hand, although the application fields of enterprise information systems continue to expand, enterprises lack analysis of the system data itself, and the value of the data has not been fully explored, making it difficult to support enterprise decision-making. ； On the other hand, enterprises want to use information systems to manage most of their business problems, but when building information systems, they ignore the management improvements that the enterprises themselves need to implement. The norms and standards of business management are incomplete, causing the system's application effects to fall short of expectations. Before selecting information systems, some excellent manufacturing companies, in addition to necessary business status research and demand analysis, will also sort out and optimize the company's business processes, including marketing models, R&D process control, production operation systems, logistics supply systems, etc., by establishing organizations, improving systems, and outputting improvement measures and action details to support the construction of the entire system, truly achieving "management first, business driven." On the basis of the application system, the value of data connotation is mined and analyzed through BI decision analysis, forward-looking prediction and analysis of various businesses are carried out, strategic decomposition and operational monitoring are realized, and strong support is provided for decision-making at all levels of the enterprise. e-works suggests that in the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, enterprises should pay equal attention to information system application and management improvement. By promoting the standardization and standardization of business management, and combining with system implementation to improve the management foundation, the information system can effectively support business operations. Under the premise of comprehensive application of business systems, various types of data can be effectively analyzed to fully tap the value of the data and effectively support decision-making. Enterprises should match the improvement of organizations and systems with management methods and information systems, and continuously improve aspects including department responsibilities, job responsibilities, management models, performance appraisal systems and personnel quality, so as to enhance application effects and maximize the expected value of information system implementation. Misunderstanding 8: Emphasis on display and light on practicality * * In the context of vigorously promoting intelligent manufacturing, some companies have spared no expense to build luxury versions of smart factories, equipped with all kinds of intelligent equipment and information systems, including well-known brands of BI, ERP, PLM, MES, SRM, ESB, production and logistics simulation systems, automatic three-dimensional warehouses, AGVs, automated production lines, production command centers, etc., and have established dedicated intelligent manufacturing exhibition halls, workshop site visit channels, demonstration production lines, etc., which are very revealing. But it is obviously insufficient in terms of practicality, such as: ● The construction of production lines did not consider actual market demand, resulting in duplication of construction, idle equipment, and insufficient utilization of production capacity. ； ● In the construction of the automatic three-dimensional warehouse, insufficient consideration was given to site location layout, material classification management, material outer packaging design, material identification, access and sorting, etc., resulting in low efficiency of the automatic three-dimensional warehouse. ； ● The application of AGV has deficiencies in terms of transportation frequency, coordination between transportation paths, warehouses and production sites, etc., which makes AGV unable to be applied in practice. ； ● The charts and data of the production command center are insufficient for controlling and guiding the production site, and are not real-time enough. ； ● Production and logistics simulation applications are out of touch with reality, and the adaptability to mixed-line production of multiple products is insufficient. The most obvious thing is that many companies have spent a lot of money to build large-screen production command centers, but no one usually sees them, and they are mostly used for viewing. Key information such as early warnings and alarms on production status are not pushed to mobile terminals based on the role of the manager. To promote intelligent manufacturing, we must pay attention to practical results! A well-known company served by the e-works consulting team has achieved success through five years under the leadership of the lean production concept.: ● It has realized automated production of more than 20 key processes, and has targeted pain points such as unstable product quality and low production efficiency. ； ● Implement automatic distribution on main assembly lines by introducing AGV automatic cars ； ● Introduce machine vision technology to conduct automatic image inspection of parts assembly and key product quality control points of the organization to improve quality inspection efficiency ； ● Through the application of MES system, the transparency, standardization and paperless management of production are realized. Combined with tools such as barcode and RFID, quality traceability is achieved and the reliability of products is ensured. ； ● Through the virtual simulation system, a digital factory that completely matches the physical factory is established to monitor the operating status of the physical factory in real time. ； ● Through the SCADA system, real-time collection of equipment, environment, energy and other data is realized, and the integration of digitalization and automation systems is realized. ； ● Through the production scheduling command center, production indicators are fed back in real time and abnormalities are handled in real time, achieving flat management of the production organization. e-works recommends that in the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, enterprises must clarify their own shortcomings and key issues that need to be solved, formulate reasonable planning and implementation plans, focus on phases, and select appropriate technologies, systems, equipment, and teams to solve the enterprise's pain points. In short, promoting intelligent manufacturing is a long-term process. Do not expect to "finish it in one battle." Manufacturing companies need to establish the determination to "fight a protracted war." The promotion of intelligent manufacturing is a very complex system engineering, involving technologies in multiple fields, and the technology itself is constantly innovating and developing. Therefore, it is not only necessary to plan systematically, but also during the implementation of the plan, the plan must be finalized based on the actual operating conditions of the enterprise. ； Manufacturing enterprises must adopt a pragmatic and truth-seeking attitude and consider not only the advancement of the system, but also its practicality. ； Manufacturing companies must not only build their own professional teams, but also introduce professional consulting service agencies and digital and automation solution providers as strategic partners in a timely manner. Only in this way can we successfully reach the "other shore" of intelligent manufacturing.