Small can be Smart(er) too: Steps for SMEs in Manufacturing to win in the Era of Industry 4.0

Such early detection can supplement the preventive maintenance schedule to ensure a higher level of service from the core assets. For workers, “maintenance” will be more of worker management and safety compliance. The “smart” worker management may involve the use of wearables and video analytics to monitor the performance and productivity of the worker. In terms of safety compliance, location tracking services could be deployed to monitor location of workers in permitted zones and also be able to trigger alerts if the worker’s wearable detects bad vital signs of the worker (such as heat stress, fall detection, extremely low/high heart rate, etc.). Video analytics can be used to monitor worker behaviour and dressing to ensure workers are not violating certain rules (such as smoking in non-smoking areas) and wearing suitable gears (e.g. helmets, goggles, etc.) in their area of work.

Optimizing automated processes: The next step in building a Smart Factory is to further optimize existing processes. All factories or plants use automation in their operations to a large extent. Automation could be in a closed-loop fashion, independent, or centrally coordinated. Automation can also be in the form of PLC, robots, AGV, chemical processors. While having more sensor data is unlikely to optimize these automated processes, historical data of past trends may serve as prediction for demand. Such predictive data may provide input to adjust the operations of these automated processes to meet the demand in a more optimized fashion. A more advanced approach would be to deploy cyber-physical system (CPS) that integrates with the automation hardware or device to have a digital twin. The CPS would typically capture all data in a real-time fashion and allow control operations to be performed onto the automation hardware. The CPS could then be part of an overall management system that provides a complete autonomous control of all the systems in the factory or plant. This management system could be integrated with other sensor data input, and provide event handling capability for the overall operations of the factory or plant.

Putting Artificial Intelligence to work: The ultimate in Smart Factory would be to exploit human-like intelligence to improve factory operations. In today’s manufacturing environment, there are still stages in automation that require human intervention. This may be for quality inspection (using our eyes), traceability (using our trouble-shooting abilities), or resource optimization (using our judgement and experience in complex interactions).

Recent advances in artificial intelligence research have demonstrated human-like ability in image recognition, pattern learning, and search optimization. The technology is now ready to provide supplementary assistance to human workers. For example, instead of having human inspectors doing visual scans of a product’s surface, we can use deep learning-based image recognition software to look for defects in the initial scan. Subsequently, we can then have a secondary scan by the human inspector to confirm the defect. This will result in faster and better quality inspections.

SMEs can harness the power of Smart Factories to increase manufacturing productivity, quality and innovation at a reduced cost. The result is a highly optimized, lean manufacturing operation, where data can be acquired and analysed more quickly and effectively. As technology solution providers support companies, including SMEs, to become smart, connected and future-ready enterprises, Industry 4.0 will bring with it technology to address constraints and open up new opportunities for innovation, and truly integrate digital transformation for growth and success.