Industry 4.0, this word can be seen everywhere in mass media, conferences and exhibitions. Everyone has long been familiar with the fourth industrial revolution, and even the statement that the manufacturing industry has entered a new era. It sounds grand and gorgeous, but what does all this represent?

First of all, imagine such a sheet metal factory - small in scale, with dozens of employees. At first glance, it seems that the operation is ordinary. Each cart responsible for the delivery of the plant has a small scaler, which seems to be connected with the software in the plant. A large monitor overhead is displaying the workshop map, marking the exact location of each job.

Then you will see that people in the office are studying the 3D model uploaded by customers to the online quotation system. In fact, most people are looking at a few exception orders that need special attention. Regular orders will flow directly to the scheduling and material scheduling system, almost without manual intervention. Spend more time in factories and offices, and you will have a deeper awareness: people use Industry 4.0 solutions to manage the whole process - the whole routine process from quotation to delivery, and handle the detailed operations behind each individual process as reliably and efficiently as possible (quotation, cutting, bending, etc.). This will have a profound impact and will eventually reshape the entire sheet metal manufacturing industry!

Of course, Industry 4.0 can't be realized at once. Almost no manufacturer will invest in all smart factory projects at the same time. Every company, including those small companies with limited resources, is making progress step by step.

OEE and machine utilization

Many factories collect data to calculate overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and machine utilization, which is usually the first step towards Industry 4.0. It is also feasible for old equipment, as long as a simple ammeter is available online, the equipment status can be evaluated. Use software to analyze these data and make the operation transparent. With smartphones and other mobile devices, factory managers can access this information from anywhere in the world, and even receive and push certain specific and definable notifications.

Manufacturing execution system

Generally, direct processes such as machine operation only account for about 20% of the total workload of the sheet metal factory, and the remaining 80% involve indirect processes, such as quotation, programming, parts transportation and capacity management. It is these indirect processes, rather than the machine itself, that usually cause manufacturing bottlenecks. In this regard, Industry 4.0 is expected to have an immediate positive impact. The manufacturing execution system (MES) directly imports orders and process flows into the machine control according to the correct priority and quantity arrangement, greatly reducing the indirect processes that operators need to perform, such as confirming orders. It gives the operator the opportunity to become a process manager: after MES sends an order to the equipment, it only needs to manage all indirect process processes.

Between machining

For decades, the sheet metal factory has been faced with an internal process bottleneck, that is, it does not know where some specific order materials are located in the factory, and employees need to spend a lot of time looking for them. Operators of small factories may search by themselves, sometimes even leave the machines idle, to find the required materials. In some cases, the operator may spend half of his working time just handling materials.

Now, imagine an indoor tracking system equipped with a position sensing device that can track the position of each process. Even better, imagine that these operations are moved from one machine to another and from one department to another by the Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV).

This complete set of integration - from MES driven production data to automatic production and transportation parts in the workshop, to operator monitoring end-to-end processes, is the complete scene of Industry 4.0. This scene also includes order monitoring and automatic cost calculation of purchase process; Plan and optimize the whole production process; Optimize logistics and inventory management. Its possibilities and potential advantages are almost endless.

Powerful maintenance

Industry 4.0 makes predictive maintenance more effective than ever before, prolonging the mean time between failures and reducing the mean time to repair. Some of the new machines used are equipped with various sensors, which can control, monitor and analyze their own conditions, and send information to inform the staff when the production is not running well.

These machines transmit the status data to a large database using artificial intelligence (AI). AI compares the current data with other known conditions, and can identify almost every machine status, such as "filter No. 123 must be replaced within the next 100 hours".

What will be done when the sensor detects that the parts are worn? The intelligent software can independently manage the spare parts inventory in the background, use an algorithm to calculate the actual wear, predict the future processing needs, and then automatically order spare parts. The technician installs the parts after they arrive on time as part of regular maintenance - no unplanned downtime, no accidents.

Maintenance and repair will also evolve. By wearing new communication technologies such as smart glasses, machine operators can contact the technical experts of machine manufacturers through voice and vision technologies. Experts can see everything the operator sees, send instructions, and use augmented reality technology to mark and interpret an object directly in the real-time view of the operator's glasses.

Network factory

The sales and distribution channels of sheet metal factories are also evolving. Take the network factory as an example. You can exchange files and data almost simultaneously between the factory and local, regional, national and even international customers. All these data are directly connected to the local MES system. The MES system can optimize the production process, enable the factory to make decisions driven by data, and commit to possible goals.

Through the online network interface, customers can log in online and view the production status of work orders in real time, see the completed process steps and how many remaining steps are required to complete the order.

Industry 4.0 will provide small businesses with new service and product marketing methods to help them send real-time feedback to customers, such as the current production status, any potential delays, and new process arrangements. All these are managed by software, which is a bit like the real-time update service, updating the latest packaging, delivery location and potential delays in the production process chain. All these will be executed automatically by advanced algorithms and interconnected systems and machines.

Cloud computing and security

In order to achieve maximum output and productivity, the sheet metal workshop will authorize cloud based servers to collect and store some data. Think about the potential of cloud based programming services - components can be uploaded in seconds. Due to the extremely powerful cloud based computing platform, the sheet metal workshop can receive the correct running program of a specific machine. This will create a huge advantage, so that programmers do not have to be on standby in the factory.

Although all these benefits are great, especially for small factories, IT security should also be considered for these large or small processes. The data shared by manufacturers is usually the essence of their companies, and they need trusted integration partners hosted locally. The sheet metal workshop, machine tool manufacturer and third-party data company must reach a trust cooperation.

Impact of artificial intelligence

Compare two kinds of chefs, "artificial intelligence chefs" and "human chefs". Human chefs cook food with delicious ingredients according to their own knowledge. Artificial intelligence chefs will try out possible combinations of different ingredients and only provide delicious food.

AI performs tasks independently and finds correlations in data that humans cannot observe, especially in complex working conditions. Artificial intelligence can ensure the fast and reliable operation of complex automation systems. For example, the automatic metal laser cutting system will analyze how to cut and remove parts in the fastest and most reliable way.

AI can also diagnose extremely complex problems, which is much more efficient than human beings alone. Whenever AI detects an exception in the operating conditions, it will find the best solution from the knowledge base. The knowledge base will expand with each diagnosis.

Manufacturing equipment

Industry 4.0 is inseparable from software and IT infrastructure. However, the manufacturing machine itself is still the foundation of the sheet metal industry.

Considering the tight supply of labor market, even small sheet metal factories find themselves with no choice but to choose automation. Today, factories, large and small, are faced with many more automation options than ever before: cutting machine tools with reliable loading/unloading functions, automatic bending machines equipped with robots, efficient laser welding machines, and automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) instead of forklifts... All these can be connected to a storage system, all of which can be controlled and optimized through the MES system. In a word, it has achieved truly independent manufacturing capability. In order to control it, sheet metal manufacturers need to combine software, hardware and services perfectly.

Industry 4.0 is a milestone, representing the use of actual machine data to help employees guide production. The ultimate state is that the algorithms generated by artificial intelligence and machine learning use machine data to make decisions and optimize the production value stream - all of which are done by themselves, so that the innovation cycle is shorter, the production batch is smaller, the product changes are more, and the delivery time is shorter.

In the future, the sheet metal factory will take on the form of unmanned factory. However, it should be emphasized again that there are still few enterprises that can make full use of the potential of Industry 4.0. They are exploring step by step. The first step is crucial.

About HGTECH: HGTECH is the pioneer and leader of laser industrial application in China, and the authoritative provider of global laser processing solutions. We have comprehensively arranged laser intelligent equipment, measurement and automation production lines, and smart factory construction to provide overall solutions for intelligent manufacturing.