A Smart Factory is an extremely digitized and connected production facility that relies on smart manufacturing. A Smart Factory works by employing technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, analytics, big data and the internet of things (IoT) and can run mainly autonomously with the capability to self-correct.
Following are some of main benefits of Smart Factory.
1. Decision Insight
Manufacturing in the 19th century was determined by steam. In the 20th century, it was electricity. Today, manufacturing is focused on data. Embedded sensors and connected production equipment, such as conveyors, fastening tools and robots, can deliver manufacturing engineers and plant managers with reams of data. That information allows better and quicker decision making within factories, and makes continuous improvements more quantified and disciplined. Smart technologies industrialize data collection and deliver advanced production analytics, so management can make extra informed decisions.
2. Enhanced productivity
With Smart Factory, Manufacturer is digitizing their operations in ways that include improvements to design, engineering, operations and maintenance. These companies are capitalizing in digitization to achieve one common goal: increased productivity. The search is on for connected tools that can benefit to harvest the same output with less input or increase output with the same level of input. Of course, one goals for the best of both, do more with less.
Understanding the smart factory ideal is not just about enabling connectivity—it’s about what you do with those connections to make your business run quicker and smoother. Whether that’s tapping into automation and IoT for data collection to improve workflows, or streamlining procedures that were labor-intensive in the past. Removal of human error improves product quality. Humans do not excel in repeat tasks, but machines do!
3. Cost Reductions
All manufacturing businesses want to decrease operating costs for the simple reason that lower operating costs mean higher profits. Industry 4.0 technologies make that possible without having to lay off workers and implementing any radical cost-cutting actions. Real-time monitoring and quality control support reduce waste. Waste is a big problematic in many old-style factories. Predictive maintenance avoids expensive repairs and downtimes. Automation saves effort costs, increases production, and guarantees quality. All these combine to decrease operating costs.
4. Improved Quality
To ensure affordability and economic sustainability, the manufactures or company products, services and processes quality are vital in today’s industry. With the emerging of 4th industrial revolution, quality management have advances through the usage of smart electronics that are linked together in networks of data (IIoT) that can be inevitably controlled without the introduction of human intervention. The development of novel digital technologies connected to the Internet of Things, along with progressions in artificial intelligence and automation, is enabling a new trends of industrial innovation and high standard of quality.
Nub8’s expertise, AWS and Azure based IOT automation insights and projects delivery from strategy to implementation support clients to transform towards Industry 4.0. We can help in The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) that is the convergence of automation and data interchange in manufacturing technologies. It creates Smart Factory, a step towards the next generation of manufacturing – Industry 4.0.