SMART MANUFACTURING

Industry 4.0 may seem like a buzzword, and in a sense, it’s the mother of all buzzwords. It represents the new industrial revolution where the internet of things (IoT) and the resulting big data flow converge with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in order to make predictions and avoid errors. Add opportunities derived from augmented reality (AR) and additive manufacturing (AM), and the potential is remarkable, with lower costs, higher efficiency and fewer human errors in the process. Naturally, the entire process doesn’t need to be fully automated using robotics to produce vast amounts of data that could be analysed and turned into business opportunities. Smart connected tools are a first step of moving into a data-driven assembly process. Philip Varghese tracks the smart technology trends in the Construction Equipment (CE) space, its impact on manufacturing processes, enterprise value chain and supply chain, leveraging digital platforms / flexible and scalable technology in manufacturing set up and challenges in replacing the legacy system with newer and smarter technologies.

A lot of companies already collect data but there are still doubts about what to do with this data. By using proper analytical software tools, a plant manager can know within seconds if an operation is below the desired standards. From the data, we can engage in proper training activities as well as providing the end-customer with detailed statistics over tightening quality in the assembly process. 

The Impact and the digital potential is huge.

The impact of disruptive technologies on the manufacturing processes, enterprise value chain and supply chain is tremendous and is changing the traditional business models.

The new era of smart manufacturing is helping original equipment manufacturers to improve productivity, quality, achieve mass customization without sacrificing quality, cost and speed. Manufacturing units generate and process enormous volumes of data. By systematically analyzing and networking this large volume of data, manufacturers can improve production efficiency and productivity.

The impact of disruptive technologies on the manufacturing processes, enterprise value chain and supply chain is tremendous and is changing the traditional business models. Digitalization and automation of manufacturing process and supply chain allows seamless connectivity between shop floor and business systems, and the collected and analyzed data can be effectively used to make better business decisions. As the use of technology is continuously growing and its benefits in business will also continue to strengthen organizations. An end-to-end visibility will help factories track the manufacturing processes right from raw material to manufactured equipment. This also enables them to provide enhanced after sales service.

World over the Industry 4.0 concept, a disruptive technology based on digital innovations has recently found its curve of progression and has transformed and reshaped the way things are viewed in the manufacturing segment. The industry 4.0 vision stretches beyond technologies and looks at the end-to-end chain, including, for instance, warehousing, logistics, recycling, energy, workers, and security and transportation.  It is not only a topic for large-scale industry but must also be feasible for small and medium sized companies as well. By using Industry 4.0 technologies, companies can rise to the global challenges of increasing customer requirements and volatile market developments. When product s processes are interconnected, and data is available in real time and is transparent, the foundation for decentralized production control laid. This allows greater flexibility in production and thus increases competitiveness.

India has a huge opportunity to innovatively pave its own road to ‘smart manufacturing’. Industry 4.0 is expected to transform manufacturing in India by bringing operational efficiencies to manufacturing industries like automotive, electrical and electronics aerospace. The major area of focus shall be technological advancement across various industries IIOT,  3D printing, 3D sensors, social software, AR and VR, have already ushered the era of smart production.

India eyes USD700 billion investments to boost urban infrastructure

Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Smart Cities Mission), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, said that India needs around USD 700 billion of investment from 2021 to 2031 to boost its urban infrastructure services like Urban Mobility, Affordable Housing, Water Security, Clean India Mission and Smart Cities Mission.

Kumar along with other Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs officials – Dinesh Kapila, Economic Advisor (Housing) and Jaideep, OSD (Urban Transport) was briefing the media on the sidelines of the inauguration of the ‘Urban and Rural Development Week’ at the India Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.

The Ministry is showcasing its efforts being made in comprehensive urban development in India and exhibiting the multi-sectoral opportunities for the World during the ‘Urban and Rural Development Week’ in Dubai. The broad objective is to demonstrate India’s innovative case studies and attract investments to India, fostering market access for other countries.

Kunal Kumar added, “India is a USD 3 trillion economy and aggressively moving towards becoming a USD 10 trillion economy by 2030 and one of main constituents of this growth will be massive urbanisation happening in the country. Rapidly urbanizing India presents exciting investment opportunities for private sector in Indian cities to address several challenges which include improving quality of urban services such as water, sanitation, urban transport and planned development of land resources.”

“The Government of India since 2014, has already invested USD 160 Billion on creating and upgrading urban infrastructure and ensuring ease of living for the citizens. India’s investment in the urban sector has jumped by over 600% during 2014-2021 as compared to 2004-2014. Urban Development is the key to India’s growth because we need productive, liveable cities that ensure ease of doing business”, he said.

Highlighting the opportunities in infrastructure, Kumar added, “The Government of India has created a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for infrastructure projects worth USD 1.5 trillion to be completed between 2020-25. Major focus of NIP is across energy (24%), roads (18%), urban (17%) and railways (12%). Each of these urban mission presents opportunities for global companies to invest and grow.”

Speaking on the Smart Cities Mission, Kumar said that with total investments worth USD 28 billion, the Smart Cities Mission is realizing the vision of 100 ‘smarter’ Indian cities in addressing the challenges of increasing urbanization and ultimately the plan is to cover more than 4000 cities in the country.

On his part, Jaideep, OSD (Urban Transport), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said, “Urban Transport with a big focus on Metro Rail and other mass transit systems is a critical component of the comprehensive approach initiated towards urbanization. In the last seven years we have operationalised 485 km of Metro network. In National Infrastructure Projects, we have projects worth USD 60 billion out of which USD 32 billion is sanctioned and remaining is in planning stage to be implemented before 2024. We are also working on green urban mobility, sustainable and energy efficient transport system.”

Speaking on the opportunities in the real estate sector in India, Dinesh Kapila, Economic Advisor (Housing), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, “The size of the housing sector is currently USD 200 billion in India, and it contributes around 7% to the GDP. The contribution of the real estate sector to the Indian economy is likely to be around USD 1 trillion by 2030. As per an industry study, with massive urbanisation, every year we need to construct 700-900 million sq mt. worth of houses, malls & offices. There are huge opportunities in India in the next ten years and currently the atmosphere is very conducive to the growth of the real estate sector and also the economy.”

Smart Manufacturing and the positives

The main cost-reducing effect of increasing connectivity in the heavy machinery and equipment industry is economics in its simplest form. By keeping track of all the smart tools and how they are used by their operators, managers can initiate pre-emptive measures for replacing tools before they break down.

Reducing down-time & improving quality in the production line are some of the most important demands from the manufacturers. By minimizing human errors & faulty tools, efficiency can increase significantly. This allows the producers to become more flexible in their process. The big data flows also provide an opportunity for building replica factories in other markets.

When data transparency increases, predictive maintenance will be applicable also in everyday operations, thus saving costs by reducing downtime in the field. The heavy machinery and equipment companies can embrace the new transformative technologies by using smart tools and softwares in the manufacturing process, and definitely take advantage of the benefits of Industry 4.0.

How IIoT Helps with Industry 4.0 Implementation

The industrial internet of things consists of IIoT hardware and software that enables data capture and processing for industrial automation. To ease the communication challenges with legacy systems in heavy equipment manufacturing plant floors, the use of smart devices such as human-machine interfaces and Edge hardware makes data capture possible.

IIoT also brings computing up close to heavy equipment manufacturing on shop floors which makes specific data processing tasks achievable. It is also important to note that with successful IIoT implementation, the connectivity gap between legacy system and industrial IoT platforms or Cloud platforms can be bridged. IIoT devices can either provide low latency data processing when plugged in to legacy heavy equipment or transfer data captured from these systems to the Cloud, ideally both.

The use of IIoT to successfully execute industry 4.0 implementations is a preferred option when compared with other alternatives. For example, the alternative of replacing existing legacy systems with brownfield equipment is a capital-intensive venture many enterprises in the heavy equipment manufacturing industry can’t easily pursue. Replacements are generally expensive and come with recurrent expenditure. In an industry with thin profit margins already, replacing legacy assets is difficult.

‘Plug and play’ IIoT solutions built for heavy equipment manufacturers eliminate the immediate need to replace manufacturing equipment until the enterprise is ready to do so. IIoT solutions-including the hardware & software- are affordable options for implementing industry 4.0. If the best IIoT solution is chosen, the process of implementation is also simplified and enterprises can get the important data needed to optimize specific manufacturing operations.

What it means, according to leaders…

According to Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (ICEMA), through its expert panels on Technology Sustainability and Manufacturing & Supply Chain comprising of Industry experts in the smart manufacturing, smart factories, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, plans to fast-track the adoption and usage of Industry 4.0 technologies in the Construction Equipment sector. “While many large construction equipment companies in the country have already adopted (or are in the process of adopting) Industry 4.0 technologies such as smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, etc., ICEMA envisions the benefits of ‘smart technologies’ to accrue to the entire construction equipment value chain, including MSME suppliers.  In view of the same, a number of activities and initiatives are being planned and undertaken by ICEMA expert panels, in partnership with key stakeholders including the government and academia, such as focused workshops, Industry seminars, knowledge sharing sessions, etc. on Industry 4.0 technologies aimed at the benefit of its Members and the CE value chain as a whole.”

“Use of advanced technology and digitization in the construction equipment sector offer huge benefits such as enabling efficient and timely completion of construction & infrastructure projects, efficient use of equipment, project resources and labour resulting in lower cost of construction, ensuring safety at construction sites via usage of equipment with world class safety standards & technology, remote monitoring of construction projects enabling preventive management of assets, upskilling opportunities w.r.t equipment usage and maintenance activities, etc. However, as highlighted in ICEMA’s Vision Plan 2030, certain key challenges need to be addressed to enable the Indian CE Industry realized its true growth potential and adopt advanced technology and digital solutions.”

V.G. Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India, said, “In Schwing Stetter’s Global manufacturing hub, we have currently installed Andon Set-up inside the production shop floor. The impact of Smart tech Integration is that tablets and kiosks have replaced paper documentation at the shop floor for real time status and traceability. The data flow in the manufacturing process has taken to expressway with the digital format; they enable the manufacturer to deliver the goods and keep the customer track and get update on their delivery schedule.”

He further added, “While Schwing Stetter‘s Global practice in providing reliable, quality products, and defect free, and delivered on time is the mantra practiced in the Indian facilities. The production processes will follow the set guide lines in line with the international standards using the world class components in its machine build. The built equipment will meet international standards and perform to its timely delivery is also one of the parameters. Whatever technology and processes that helps in giving a world class product are quickly and immediately adapted into our shop floor process.”

According to Anand, Plant Head, Kharagpur Plant, Tata Hitachi, “One of the foremost challenges to digitalisation is that of aligning digital training and development while migrating from legacy systems to digital systems. Significant effort needs to be accorded towards digital literacy in this regard. In addition, data security is a key aspect, where the IT infrastructure needs to be strengthened significantly to consider the management as well as safekeeping of large databases. Yet another challenge that needs to be addressed while going for digitalisation is bringing out meaningful and useful inferences and extrapolations from available data.”

Sung Hyuk Lee, General Manager – Operations, Hyundai CE India, said, “Digital technology is future even for Construction Equipment Industry. At Product level it’s already being used extensively and even for manufacturing processes it’s getting popular. In manufacturing we are using digital technology such as automatic cutting processes, automatic and semi-automatic welding process such as Robot welding, Simulator as SPM for part fabrication and automatic machining tool presetter using to quickly determine tool geometry offset. We collect in process inspection data in digital format which is further use for analysis and improvement of process and quality. We developed customised DPR software to monitor production efficiency and COPQ based online information from shop floor. Addition to this, we are using PLM system gives accurate drawings for process analysis and material requirements and manufacturing process planner help to set the process for assembly of machine station wise manner.”

Pinaki Niyogy – Vice President & Chief Technology Officer – TIL, said, “At the core of our philosophy remains the customer. To this end our objective has always been to make the machines in the most efficient way, with zero defect and to deliver on time. We endeavor to pursue efficiency and productivity through continuous improvements and rigorous quality assurance. We need to be cognizant of the fact that TIL machines are large capacity and not mass production machines. For our production process, we focus more on high strength steel fabrication and welding, Structure machining and then final assembly of the complete machines. In order to improve the quality and productivity of welding, we have deployed digital welding machines. These machines have integral data logger and can continuously transmit the data related to the welding parameters being followed during the welding.”

TIL has been working on Digital manufacturing platform since the last 15 years. We do our line balancing and line layout simulation through various digital manufacturing software which helps towards making the production line more efficient as we can carry out various iteration / simulation even before the physical implementation of the production line, Niyogy said.

V. Senthilkumar, Managing Director, Propel Industries, said, “Propel Industries is known for incorporating latest technology to constantly upgrade our products, which in turn benefits our customers. After the pandemic, we have turned to technological means for our operations as well. We understand that the market growth of crushers and screens is because of the incorporation of technology and its increased usage. Automation in the mining and construction industry is also a key factor in propelling the industry growth. Track plants operated with electric power rather than by hydraulic means is the latest trend. We have imbibed IoT, AI and automation in our processes.” He further added, “There is a definitely a security issue in the usage of smarter technologies. If we don’t have a fool proof system in place, then proprietary information could be hacked. Security breach at any level could bring in distrust among stakeholders.”

Anil Lingayat, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Godrej Material Handling, said, “The latest ‘smart technology’ trends in the material handling manufacturing sector are Industrial IoT, cloud computing and digital twin technology. The ability to connect, automate, track and analyze is required for manufacturing success — Industrial IoT (IIoT) is the key to facilitating this, and is at the core of any successful digital transformation. Transitioning to cloud-based systems is about agility, speed, nimbleness, and gaining a 360-degree perspective on factory operations in real time. Cloud computing is an on-demand computing service used for data (cloud) storage with computing power without direct user management. In a cloud-based solution, productivity can be tracked remotely from anywhere and the supplier and manufacturer can be updated daily. Also, operational data is accumulated automatically to calculate performance areas such as machine utilization and line utilization. Digital Twin technology is having the most immediate and significant impact in implementing smart technologies in the sector. Adoption of this technology is fairly at a nascent stage but has a great potential.”

Sharad Thussu, Head – Mining & Construction Equipment Division, Voltas, said, “At Voltas MCED Mining Machinery Solutions, we offer our customers a global distribution platform for a wide portfolio of auxiliary products for Earth Moving Mining Machineries from our partners in India and across the world. This helps us in meeting our customer’s maintenance needs economically and expeditiously. We have, over a period of time, established a proven track record in offering a one stop solution when it comes to any OE / OPM parts applicable to Earth Moving Mining Machineries.”

Thussu also said, “As technology transforms the style and scale of the core mining sector, Voltas Mining & Construction Equipment (M&CE) division plays a vital role in making the latest and most efficient surface mining equipment available to Indian end-users, especially for mining of coal, iron ore, limestone, copper, zinc and lignite. Keeping sustainability practices in mind, our products and services are useful across different locations including mining & construction sites. We strive to provide innovative products and solutions that add convenience to life. In our pursuit to offer a better tomorrow, we persistently look for opportunities that help add value to our end-products.”

According to Safar Mohammad Khan, Deputy General Manager- HDD, Apollo Techno Industries, “The Industry 4.0 is already influencing sectors like HDD manufacturing/construction and mining equipment, supply chain management, construction, shipping etc. and shall impact all the aspects of our day-to-day activities. Industry 4.0 is gaining popularity due to rapid improvements made in the cyber-computing capabilities in the last few decades. The gap between the virtual and the real world has narrowed by advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and others so as to create an interoperable platform between Information Technology (IT) and actual physical operations. The term Industry 4.0 refers to the leveraging of cyber physical domains in association with latest technologies like AI, IoT, Cloud computing, AR, 3D printing etc. to enhance productivity. The Industry 4.0 is already influencing our HDD and other road CE sectors. As a manufacturer, we have accelerated the digital transformation journey by developing new technologies, such as AI tools, edge, data lakes, IOT, new connectivity standards, advance analytics, and robotics in our manufacturing capacity in all their HDD Units.

Hits: 80