Smart manufacturing: more efficiency in industry with the smart factory

The manufacturing industry, one of the most important in the Old Continent and especially in Italy, is facing an extremely complex period. On the one hand, supply chains are under very heavy stress due to the persistent war crisis that has limited, delayed or, in the worst cases, prevented the proper logistical supply of goods. On the other, energy costs have risen dramatically, and companies must find new solutions to reduce their consumption. To save money, but also to meet the decarbonization targets in the Fit for 55 plan, which call for a significant reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, and then to zero in the years to come.

But that’s not all: especially in the area of consumer products, the approach is changing radically, more and more manufacturing companies are turning from large-scale production, all identical for the mass market, to batches with a smaller number of pieces, sometimes very few, choosing to please those buyers looking for tailor-made solutions.

How to get out of it? By changing approach and focusing on the concept of Smart Manufacturing.

Smart Manufacturing is the direct result of the integration of OT (Operational Tecnhology, the classic manufacturing machinery, to be clear) with IT (Information Technology). Basically, it represents the digital transformation of industry. The machinery is basically the same, partly because models several years old are often still being used in the factory. The costs of replacing them are enormous, and the benefits for production not so marked, considering that we are talking about machines that are indeed old, but made to last and extremely reliable. Often, it does not make sense to stop production just to change a machine to a more modern one. It does, however, make sense to make it smarter through IoT devices. Temperature sensors, vibration sensors, video cameras, devices that connect to PLCs to extract data from them-we are talking about low-cost items, but they are critical to making the factory interconnected. The  revamping, in short, makes it possible to bring the advantages of digitization even where plant and line replacement would not be beneficial.

Through probes and sensors inserted in this way, all operating data can be acquired, which will then be processed by edge servers in close proximity first and transferred to the cloud later for further analysis. The insights gained will then allow areas of optimization to be identified, understanding where action can be taken to reduce energy consumption and how to make production more efficient, thereby also optimizing time. Not only that, by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to production and enterprise ERP data, it will also be possible to simulate different scenarios and be prepared for unexpected events, such as supply chain problems.

Smart Manufacturing: innovation, sustainability and cost-consciousness

Another benefit of integrating IT with OT is to be able to enable the predictive maintenance. By analyzing the operating parameters of a piece of machinery and comparing them with time series (and perhaps even with the digital twin of the machinery itself, in more advanced manufacturing environments), it is possible to predict possible malfunctions well in advance, and to take action before the problem manifests itself, thus reducing unexpected downtime and making production more efficient.

Among the key technologies of Smart Manufacturing must necessarily be mentioned additive manufacturing, i.e., the 3D printing, which is rapidly revolutionizing the very concept of manufacturing. Certainly, classic manufacturing technologies (the subtractive ones) will continue to be used for many years to come, since they have been tried and tested for decades and on very large volume production they are still unbeatable, in terms of speed and cost. Additive manufacturing, however, is making great strides and, while still limited to prototypes or small batches, is disrupting old processes. Indeed, one of the advantages of 3D printing is the ability to make finished parts, even very complex ones, that are ready to use, without requiring manual assembly. Not only that, thanks to 3D printing it is no longer necessary to manufacture huge quantities of parts, which will be crammed for many years in some warehouse. These parts, can in fact be produced only when needed, greatly reducing waste and inefficiency.

With its ability to simplify processes, smart manufacturing has become an increasingly popular choice for many industries.
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