Optimizing the efficiency in smart manufacturing

connected products and analytics, apps & services.

Digital twins

Digital twins leverage Artificial Intelligence as well as Machine Learning for crunching data from Industrial IoT devices as well as plant sensors. This helps in creating the same digital copy of the factory that is constantly being updated as per the real time changes in the plant.

Digital twins are used for optimizing layouts as well as planning to building new factories. And this can be carried out by remote engineers in order to carry out root cause analysis leveraging Virtual Realty & Augment Realty headsets, and other than these, it is also used to fix issues in the bricks & mortar factory by changing the configurations on the digital version.

GE has created the most advanced Digital twin that integrates analytic models for components of the power plant which helps in measuring the asset health, wear as well as performance with KPIs that are customer defined.

Data visualizations

The rise of the connected factory coupled with the preponderance of Internet of Things devices have presented manufacturing firms with a tsunami of data, specifically with plants which possess advanced Industrial IoT systems that receive as much as seventy terabytes of data/day right from a single assembly line and this data is highly valuable, however, only when firms possess the capability to access insights from it.

Advanced data visualizations which consist of 3D visualizations, render a clearer view of changing metrics & a deeper look into shifting business & plant conditions & with such kinds of visualizations, factories can not only achieve a more accurate understanding of the processes but also the root cause analysis often in real-time.

Additive manufacturing

Since 3D printing is almost standard for manufacturing the exact replacement parts when an equipment fails, it is used to reduce delays that occur owing to dealing with incidents. However, additive manufacturing is now mastering new techniques which support process manufacturing in order to meet its goals. Both Additive & conventional manufacturing are "now starting to connect and create a more integrated production environment," in the words of Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of

Materialise.

While new 3D printing materials are recyclable as well as reusable, they help plants in improving sustainability, and micro 3D printing can help in producing ever-more complex as well as hard-to-source production components, that helps in assisting in shortening the supply chain & making sure that plants possess all the necessary items. Lastly, by integrating additive marketing, the plants can ensure smoother production runs as well as fewer interruptions.

Wearables

Wearables leverage data from Industrial IoT devices, GPS location data as well as Artificial Intelligence for delivering alerts to employees with an aim to warn them about potential hazards, as well as remind them regarding safety or compliance requirements & notify them regarding the significant changes in the plant. For example, smart wristbands can send alerts to the wearer when a surface is either too hot to touch or if a piece of equipment is malfunctioning, while GPS-embedded items are used to monitor the employee movements for enforcing safe distancing during the pandemic.

One such organization that offers a wearable device that is capable of operating in numerous tough conditions such as heat, space, oceans & oil fields is RealWear. The company offers HMT-1Z1, a device that can be simply clipped onto the workers' hard helmets.

In a nutshell

As Fictiv CEO and co-founder Dave Evans put it, "2020 was about seeing the problems, 2021 was finding the solutions and now in 2022, we see companies are making progress towards a future-proofed industry."
These smart manufacturing trends, right from predictive monitoring & digital twins to wearables & edge computing, help in building upon the digital transformation foundations that are laid in the last few years & are set to continue to strengthen throughout this year & beyond.