Computer Integrated Manufacturing

Digital Twins a catalyst to fulfilling sustainability agenda

Organisations implement digital twins to understand and predict their energy consumption and emissions. According to the ‘Digital Twins: Adding Intelligence to the Real World’ report from the Capgemini Research Institute, 60 per cent of organisations across major sectors are leaning on digital twins1 as a catalyst to not only improve operational performance, but also to fulfil their sustainability agenda. By being able to simulate the physical world, digital twins can help organisations to better utilise resources, reduce carbon emissions, optimise supply and transportation networks, as well as increase employee safety. The report reveals that digital twin implementations are set to increase by 36 per cent on average over the next five years. This indicates a growing appetite for digital twin technology across all major industries, such as automotive, aerospace, life sciences, and energy and utilities among others, driven by organisations looking to advance their digital transformation journeys and adding intelligence to operations along the value chain. Organisations surveyed reported that cost-saving benefits (79 per cent) and technological advancement (77 per cent) are key drivers of their digital twin investments. The research also found that 57 per cent of organisations agree that digital twin technology is pivotal to improving sustainability efforts, which reflects the growing trend of businesses keen to deliver on their Environmental Social Governance (ESG) promises. Digital twins offer flexible ways of working to mitigate risks and extend collaboration, thereby providing a unique opportunity to increase profitability while optimising the use of resources along the value chain. Over one third (34 per cent) of organisations surveyed reported having already implemented digital twins at scale to understand and predict their energy consumption and emissions. Consumer products and energy and utilities industries are leading the way in this use case, with 52 per cent and 50 per cent respectively utilising the […]

Open systems the route to the Smart Factory

Francisco Perez, Lantek’s OEM Channel Director Lantek has been a leader in software solutions for the sheet metal industry for 35 years. It has accomplished this by helping OEM machine tool manufacturers optimise the functionality and performance of their machines while enabling sheet metal manufacturing companies take advantage of new, productivity boosting, CAD/CAM, MES, ERP software and cloud-based technologies. Dedicated OEM team, worldwide support Integral to this approach is Lantek’s neutral stance for its OEM partners, giving them the confidence to trust Lantek with information about the individual technology advances each is working to develop. To facilitate this secure coordination, Lantek has established a focused and dedicated department to manage the 150 OEMs it now supports. This special team is giving each OEM individual attention on their Lantek projects and is supporting them in their implementation and market rollouts to ensure the technology works as intended and, that their customers are happy with the results. Lantek has 20 offices in 14 countries and a global dealer network across 100 countries which Lantek puts at the disposal of its OEM partners for professional support. Long term experience and a culture of hard work Software development is a long and complex process. Lantek has been developing its sheet metal CAM, ERP and MES software solutions for 35 years. Mostly, its innovations come from long hours working in partnership with sheet metal manufacturers and machine tool builders, incorporating their requirements while anticipating the direction the industry is heading, providing features and innovations that add real value for customers. This knowledge and experience can only be acquired after years working in partnership with machine tool builders. Since 2019, Lantek’s OEM partnerships have grown 16% with an increase in OEM channel sales of 41%. Special collaborative projects Over the years, Lantek has developed software to […]

Taking the edge off Industry 4.0

~ Why edge analytics should be part of an IIoT strategy ~ In a 2019 report from Forrester, 69 per cent of decision makers said that prioritising edge Internet of Things (IoT) processes would improve their ability to meet IoT objectives. And they aren’t wrong. Eventually, it won’t be possible for all data to be stored and monitored in the cloud — this is where edge analytics offers an olive branch. Here, Johan Jonzon, CMO and Co-Founder of pioneer in edge analytics for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Crosser, looks at why edge analytics should be a key part of an IIoT strategy in manufacturing. Gartner predicts that, by 2025, more than 75 per cent of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside the traditional data center or cloud. Gaining access to relevant data in a central location, either a cloud or a data center, is key to making changes and meeting business objectives. Companies must therefore ensure data is received in a faster, more secure and cost-effective way by making edge analytics a key part of their IIoT strategy. Edge systems hold numerous benefits for the manufacturing industry. Relevant data can be transmitted from the edge so that businesses can act on insights in real-time. The reduced distance between the server and end-user enables quicker data analysis and decision-making. In addition to delivering faster insights, the sheer volume of data that connected devices are creating is making edge analytics a necessity. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), “every connected person in the world will have at least one digital data interaction every 18 seconds”. If we consider just how many IIoT devices are available in a smart manufacturing plant, we can quickly see why manufacturing needs the edge. Strategy on the edge Manufacturers must manage all their devices […]

Why automate?

By Daniel Carranco Director, Continuous Improvement Global Shop Solutions Manufacturers are looking to lower cost and increase speed without sacrificing quality. This means getting more done in less time, with less manpower, less scrap and fewer mistakes. To do this, the manufacturing industry is investing more in automation. Specifically, automating the processes and tasks that machines can do quicker and better than humans and integrating them with a company’s ERP system and other technology. What once seemed to be the stuff of science fiction – manufacturing plants run by robots – is already a reality. FANUC Corporation of Japan uses a workforce of robots working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to produce up to 23,000 robots a month. Most manufacturers are a long way from being able to automate the majority of their production processes. But as ongoing advances enable machines and humans to get better at talking to each other, more production lines and eventually more production plants will become more and more automated. If your manufacturing business hasn’t yet jumped on the automation bandwagon, it’s time, and here are the top five reasons why you should. 1.To reduce labor costs For most manufacturers, labor costs represent the biggest expense and hardest cost to manage (or reduce). It’s no surprise that companies around the globe have begun using automated machinery and equipment to replace human workers on assembly lines. For example, automation is already replacing human labor in areas such as picking and moving parts, assembly, inspection and more. Other examples where automation is producing significant reductions in labor costs include: BOM COMPARE. Reduces expensive engineering time by eliminating the manual comparing of CAD/CAM BOMs against existing BOMs in your ERP system. Improves the speed and reliability of employee software logins and inventory tracking. AUTOMATING PURCHASING. […]

Service buses and their impact on digitalisation

One of the biggest challenges that enterprises face in their digitalisation efforts is having too many complex data silos and applications that don’t follow a common architecture. The promises of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are significant, but there are several traps that companies need to avoid in order secure the long-term outcome of their digitalisation projects. The answer lies in a flexible, future-proofed data architecture, as Martin Thunman, CEO and co-founder at edge analytics platform Crosser, explains. IDC reports that 60 per cent of executives believe the Internet of Things (IoT) will play a critical role in their digital business strategy — with big data and analytics among the top technologies already implemented to support this. However, the communication layer of yesterday has evolved and has now become even more intelligent. Therefore, industry now needs to add intelligent logic between data endpoints to enable IoT applications. Architectural development The core concept of the enterprise service bus (ESB) architecture is that it enables easy integration of multiple applications by putting a communication bus between them. This is crucial in increasing organizational agility by reducing time to market, making it one of the key reasons that companies implement an ESB as the backbone of their IT infrastructure. This is down to an ESB architecture providing a simple, well defined, “pluggable” system that is highly scalable. From the ESB followed the need of an event driven architecture (EDA) to leverage insights when they occur. This formed the need for initial steps toward the integration of large enterprise systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). ESB is regarded as the most promising strategy for integrating business applications across distributed and diverse frameworks and platforms today. Using ESB as a middleware layer creates a superset of both service oriented architecture (SOA) and EDA. […]

Carbon-neutral manufacturing is possible

Amid a slow political process on climate change, businesses globally must step up their efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Engineering and manufacturing can make an essential contribution to achieving net zero, as manufacturing plants, machinery, and sophisticated production processes are at the heart of global value creation everywhere. The good news is that we can help to significantly limit global warming and reach net-zero emissions, using the technology and know-how we already have. Three key priorities that will propel us more quickly on this journey – if we embrace them consistently: Focus all our efforts on minimising greenhouse gas emissions. Use all available levers for improvement, from the thousands of incremental refinements that add up to significant efficiency gains over time, to fundamentally designing and adapting large industrial plants and processes with the goal of climate neutrality. We will need to question established routines and scrutinise every aspect: can we minimise the amount of stainless steel or other raw material and still get the same performance? How can we reuse more of the waste we produce in production processes, or – even better – avoid it? And this line of questioning doesn’t stop within our own operations; we must encourage, or even require, our suppliers to do the same. This is critical given that a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the supply chain. We must put energy efficiency front and centre. There is no doubt that energy efficiency improvements will have to play a crucial role in putting the world on a net-zero pathway. In particular, heating and cooling require our immediate focus, as they account for a large proportion of energy consumption in processing plants – often between 50 and 90%. By deploying state-of-the-art heat pump technology, manufacturers can capture their waste heat from refrigeration and then boost the temperature to […]

Automate your manufacturing

By Daniel Carranco Director, Continuous Improvement, Global Shop Solutions Manufacturers are looking to lower cost and increase speed without sacrificing quality. This means getting more done in less time, with less manpower, less scrap and fewer mistakes. To do this, the manufacturing industry is investing more in automation. Specifically, automating the processes and tasks that machines can do quicker and better than humans and integrating them with a company’s ERP system and other technology. What once seemed to be the stuff of science fiction – manufacturing plants run by robots – is already a reality. FANUC Corporation of Japan uses a workforce of robots working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to produce up to 23,000 robots a month. Most manufacturers are a long way from being able to automate the majority of their production processes. But as ongoing advances enable machines and humans to get better at talking to each other, more production lines and eventually more production plants will become more and more automated. If your manufacturing business hasn’t yet jumped on the automation bandwagon, it’s time, and here are the top five reasons why you should. 1.Reduce labor costs For most manufacturers, labor costs represent the biggest expense and hardest cost to manage (or reduce). It’s no surprise that companies around the globe have begun using automated machinery and equipment to replace human workers on assembly lines. For example, automation is already replacing human labor in areas such as picking and moving parts, assembly, inspection and more. Other examples where automation is producing significant reductions in labor costs include: BOM COMPARE. Reduces expensive engineering time by eliminating the manual comparing of CAD/CAM BOMs against existing BOMs in your ERP system. Improves the speed and reliability of employee software logins and inventory tracking. AUTOMATING PURCHASING. Reduces […]

How many axes does my robot need?

Manufacturers are incorporating robots into their operations at a significant rate, and given the many benefits that industrial automation has, this is only set to increase. With this growing popularity, industrial robots are available in a huge range of configurations and sizes, with different numbers of axes for a range of applications. Robots can move on anywhere between one and seven axes, with more axes offering more flexibility of movement. However, despite the growing accessibility of robot in industry, it can still be difficult to know which type of robot out of the many now available is the best choice for an application. Traditionally, when someone thinks of an industrial robot, they will picture a robotic arm. These are articulated robots and can mimic the actions of a human arm thanks to their directional control and large range of movement. Other types of robots, such as Cartesian robots or four-axis models such as SCARA robots are more limited, often only able to move on two to four axes. These robots are suited to many applications and certainly have their benefits, but the restrictions on motion can be an issue when more sophisticated movements are required. This is when an articulated robot is a better option. Articulated robots, including six and seven-axis robots, can move vertically and horizontally, but are also able to roll, pitch and yaw —they can rotate around the X, Y and Z axes. This gives them additional range and flexibility. They are typically mounted on a pedestal, with articulation points in the base, body, arm, shoulder, and wrist. This also allows them to work at differing levels and between planes, offering more versatility of motion sequence. Articulated robots are more capable of intricate or complex processes such as automotive assembly due to this ability to accurately manoeuvre. […]

igus 7th axis extends working space by up to 400 percent

Articulated arm robots can travel over six metres, quadrupling their working space: the 7th axis is now compatible with all lightweight articulated arm robots worldwide thanks to a simple Plug & Play kit. So far, models from Universal Robots, Epson and the igus robolink series from Treotham have benefited from this increased mobility. Now Omron, Franka Emika, Doosan, Yuanda Robotics and many other lightweight robotics suppliers are joining the list. The first users of the so-called 7th axis, a linear axis with an electric toothed belt drive that igus launched in 2020, were thrilled according to Alexander Mühlens: “Suddenly, thanks to the additional axis, their articulated arm robots are as mobile as humans. This enables them to take on multiple tasks in automation environments making them significantly more productive,” says the Head of Automation Technology at igus. “We therefore decided to extend the compatibility of the system to all manufacturers worldwide – such as Omron, Franka Emika, Doosan and Yuanda Robotics. With a matching Plug & Play kit of hardware and software we make customisation possible.” Ready-to-connect complete solution for all lightweight articulated arm robots In the future, all lightweight articulated arm robots with a weight range of 10 to 50 kilograms or, depending on the dynamics, a payload of 2 to 20 kilograms can use the 7th axis. Treotham supplies the system as a ready-to-connect complete solution from a single source. It consists of a drylin ZLW toothed belt axis with a length of up to six metres and two parallel rails made of aluminium. These can be mounted on the floor, walls or ceilings and a toothed belt drive with stepper motor for a positioning accuracy of 0.3 millimetres. Also included is: an energy chain for guiding energy and data cables; a switch cabinet integration kit with cables; […]

How to master manufacturing’s data and analytics revolution

Manufacturing is on the verge of a data-driven revolution, but like all revolutions it will require the right actions, individually and collaboratively, to realise its full potential. Within a few years, manufacturers will collaborate in hyperconnected value networks in which data‑and‑analytics applications drive productivity, new customer experiences, and societal and environmental effects. Indeed, data and analytics are a key driver in realising the “Factory of Future” by enabling transparency, predictions and autonomous systems. Already today, we see leading manufacturers applying data and analytics to achieve their objectives for efficiency, sustainability and resilience. The imperative to boost efficiency and productivity is driven by intense cost pressures as well as liquidity issues arising from Covid-19 pandemic-related business disruptions. Sustainable operations are at the top of the agenda for many companies.. At the same time, they are seeking to build more resilient and connected supply chains, so they can anticipate and react faster to disruptions. Most companies recognise that data and analytics are rapidly changing the way they manufacture goods. Despite the high ambitions and strong value proposition, companies have not yet tapped the full potential. A triad of interconnected success factors Successful companies have demonstrated that three elements must be combined to drive full-scale implementation of data and analytics. First, they focus on value in selecting applications. Second, they establish a solid technological backbone comprising both information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT). Third, they promote organisational readiness to ensure that investments deliver the anticipated returns. Examples from various industry sectors demonstrate the importance of these success factors: Petrochemicals: A large petrochemical client of Schneider Electric is leveraging advanced process control to improve asset productivity and energy consumption in a highly complex integrated plant. The advanced process control is informed by an accurate digital twin based on a thermodynamic model. Moreover, effective visualisation […]

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