MARCH 2018CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9from steam to electricity, from electricity to automation, and now from automation to cyber-physical solutions. It is time to modernize manufacturing by providing high levels of flexibility accompanied by another wave of operating cost reduction, as well as rigorous product quality and worker safety. Now that we know why we need to reinvent manufacturing, let's ignite this revolution inside your company; let's discuss the changes that need to happen within the walls of the factory.I mentioned cyber-physical solutions. In this context, what the word solution entails is a symbiosis between the digital and physical domains. A solution that goes back and forth taking the best of both:Physical to Digital ­ The purpose is to capture the sea of data from the production floor in order to convert it into digital information. These flows of digital information are then used by software entities to control and improve manufacturing: SCADA, MES, etc. Augmented reality, for example, allows production crews to combine these two domains in real-time to accelerate learning curves, simplify maintenance or facilitate quality inspections. Now imagine that you scanned your entire factory and have it in your virtual world--you can plan and simulate all your changes without moving a physical asset in the floor. Engineering changes literally took another dimension. Digital to Physical ­ The purpose is to create algorithms to manipulate information and take decisions that trigger action at the floor level. When you have a 3D model of a component or a fixture, for example, you take that model from your computer to a physical object which eliminates intermediaries, speed up your prototyping cycle, and vertically integrate part of your supply. But above all, it gives you an autonomy that you didn't have before. 3D maps of your factory are used for autonomous robots which optimize routes in real-time and avoid collisions while transporting material. Digital to Digital ­ The purpose is to manipulate information to reveal meaning. Using Big Data to unveil mean time between failures in predictive maintenance or using advance analytics to expose non-obvious trends that could cause shortages of material or product delivery issues are examples in this domain.Needless to say, all big companies have already started this manufacturing technology expedition. Some have clear strategies while some others have good ideas. But all of them require the support from their leadership. They call it Smart Manufacturing, Advanced Manufacturing, e-Factory, Factory of the Future, Industry 4.0 or Manufacturing 4.0. It really doesn't matter, at the end they all look for larger profitability pools, competitive advantage, and a lot of fun. Productivity gains started to shift from human labor dependent to asset dependent, and manufacturing models such as dedicated factories were born
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