The main line of intelligent manufacturing: intelligent production

·Siemens Amberg factory: realized the mixed line production of multi-variety industrial computer , the product qualification rate is up to 99.9988%

· FANUC: Achieving a high degree of automation and intelligence in the robot and servo motor production process, up to 720 hours unattended

Schneider Electric: Full automation of electrical switch manufacturing and packaging processes

· Harley-Davidson, USA: Extensive use of intelligent manufacturing units consisting of machining centers and robots for mass customization

·Mitsubishi Electric Nagoya production: The new robot assembly line using human-machine combination significantly increased the production per unit area

· Heavy truck giant MAN: built a complete in-plant logistics system and established a material supermarket

In recent years, major economies around the world have been vigorously promoting the revival of manufacturing. Under the enthusiasm of Industry 4.0 , Industrial Internet, Internet of Things, and cloud computing, many excellent manufacturing companies around the world have developed smart factory construction practices.

According to Zhou Ji, president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, intelligent production is the main line of intelligent manufacturing, and smart factories are the main carrier of intelligent production. With the application of a new generation of artificial intelligence, in the next 20 years, Chinese companies will enter a new generation of smart factories that are self-learning, adaptive, and self-controlled. The integration of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology and advanced manufacturing technology will revolutionize the production line, workshop and factory, and upgrade to a historic new height, which will fundamentally improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. In the future, the intelligent upgrade of production lines, workshops and factories will become a major battlefield for promoting intelligent manufacturing.

I. The connotation and construction focus of smart factories

The intelligent factory is an important carrier for intelligent manufacturing. It mainly realizes the intelligentization of the production process by constructing intelligent production systems and networked distribution production facilities. The intelligent factory already has the autonomy to collect, analyze, judge and plan; to make inference and prediction through the overall visual technology, and to use the simulation and multimedia technology to expand the design and manufacturing process. The components of the system can form the optimal system structure by themselves, with coordination, reorganization and expansion features. The system has self-learning and self-maintenance capabilities. Therefore, the smart factory realizes the coordination and cooperation between people and machines, and its essence is human-computer interaction.

The man-machine method ring is the abbreviation for the five main factors affecting the quality of products in the total quality management theory. Person, refers to the person who manufactures the product; machine, the equipment used to manufacture the product; material refers to the raw material used in the manufacture of the product; the law refers to the method used to manufacture the product; the ring refers to the environment in which the product is manufactured. The intelligent production is the process of multi-dimensional integration of the smart factory as the core, connecting people, machines, methods, materials and rings.

In the smart factory architecture, the five elements of quality management have changed accordingly, because in the future smart factory, humans, machines and resources can communicate with each other. Smart products "know" the details of how they are made and the purpose of their use. They will actively answer questions about the manufacturing process, such as "When will I be made?", "Which parameters should I use for processing," and "Where should I be sent?" The smart factory prototypes built by enterprises based on CPS and Industrial Internet mainly include physical layer, information layer, big data layer, industrial cloud layer and decision layer. Among them, the physical layer contains hardware devices of different levels in the factory, starting from the smallest embedded device and basic components, to the sensing device, manufacturing equipment, manufacturing unit and production line, and interconnected with each other. Based on this, a vertical integrated environment of “measured and controllable, manageable and manageable” was constructed. The information layer covers all aspects of business operations, including R&D design, manufacturing, marketing services, logistics and other business management activities, as well as the resulting businesses such as innovation, customization, e-commerce, and visual tracking. On this basis, a horizontal integration environment of the internal value chain of the enterprise is formed to realize the circulation and exchange of data and information.

Vertical integration and horizontal integration are based on CPS and Industrial Internet. The interconnection of manufacturing systems such as products, equipment, manufacturing units, production lines, workshops, factories, etc., and their integration with different business segments of the enterprise are through data applications and The industrial cloud service is realized, and at the decision-making level, it supports the highest decision-making of the enterprise based on product, service and equipment management. Together, they build a complete value network system for smart factories, providing users with end-to-end solutions.

Due to the obvious differences in the manufacturing process of products, the focus of discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing in smart factory construction is different. For discrete manufacturing, products are often assembled from multiple parts and components through a series of discrete processes. The process involves many changes and uncertainties, which increases the difficulty and support of discrete manufacturing organizations to some extent. Complexity. Companies often arrange the location of production equipment in accordance with the main process flow to minimize material transfer distance. The order-oriented discrete manufacturing enterprise has the characteristics of multiple varieties and small batches, and its process route and equipment are more flexible. Therefore, discrete manufacturing enterprises pay more attention to the flexibility of production, and the focus of their smart factory construction is the intelligent manufacturing production line.

Second, the main construction mode of the smart factory

Due to the different production processes in different industries and the different intelligences of various industries, smart factories have the following different construction modes.

The first mode is to digitize the production process to a smart factory. In the process of petrochemical, steel, metallurgy, building materials, textiles, paper, medicine, food and other process manufacturing, the intrinsic motivation for enterprises to develop intelligent manufacturing lies in the controllability of product quality, focusing on the start of production digitalization, and from the end control of products based on quality control requirements. Full process control transformation.

The second model is from intelligent manufacturing production units (equipment and products) to smart factories. In the discrete manufacturing fields of machinery, automobile, aviation, shipbuilding, light industry, household appliances and electronic information, the core purpose of enterprise development of intelligent manufacturing is to expand the product value space, focusing on single equipment automation and product intelligence, based on production efficiency. And the improvement of product performance achieves value growth.

The third mode is from personalization to connected factories. In the field of consumer goods manufacturing such as home appliances, clothing, and home furnishing, the focus of enterprise development of intelligent manufacturing is to fully meet the diversified needs of consumers while achieving economies of scale, focusing on large-scale personalized customization model innovation through the Internet platform.

Third, the key links in the development of smart factories

The focus of intelligent production is to apply advanced technologies such as human-computer interaction and 3D printing to the entire industrial production process, and to monitor and collect data for the entire production process, facilitating data analysis, thus forming a highly flexible, personalized and networked Industry chain.

3D printing

3D printing is a disruptive and innovative technology that is called the most important manufacturing technology innovation of the 20th century by the American Natural Science Foundation. The entire process of manufacturing can introduce 3D printing, which saves costs, speeds up progress, and reduces material waste. In the design process, with 3D printing technology, designers can gain more freedom and creative space, and can focus on product shape creativity and functional innovation without having to consider the influence of shape complexity, because 3D printing can almost complete any shape. Item construction. In the production process, 3D printing can directly generate parts from the digital model, without the need for special mold making and other processes, which not only saves costs, but also speeds up product launch. In addition, traditional manufacturing processes typically produce scrap during casting, polishing, and assembly of components, while the same components can be formed in one shot using 3D printing with virtually no waste. In the distribution chain, 3D printing may challenge existing logistics distribution networks. In the future, parts no longer need to be purchased and shipped from the original manufacturer, but 3D printed model files are downloaded from the manufacturer's online database and then printed locally, which may result in the loss of parts storage and distribution systems around the world. The meaning of existence.

After nearly 40 years of development in 3D printing, leading companies have begun to achieve significant profitability, market recognition has risen rapidly, and industry revenue growth has accelerated. According to the typical product life cycle theory, technology products often show accelerated growth from the introduction period to the growth stage. It is judged that the current 3D printing industry is entering an accelerated growth period.

Chart: Global 3D printing equipment shipment growth in 2008-2015

Source: Seri Research

The entire 3D printing industry chain can be divided into three parts, the upstream basic parts industry, 3D printing equipment manufacturers, 3D printing materials manufacturers and supporting supporting enterprises, and the downstream is mainly the application fields of 3D printing. In the usual sense, the 3D printing industry mainly refers to 3D printing equipment, materials and service companies.

Chart: 3D printing industry chain

3D printing has formed a complete industrial chain. Every step of the industry chain has gathered a number of leading companies. Globally, equipment companies represented by Stratasys and 3D Systems play a leading role in the industry chain, and these equipment companies are often able to provide materials and print services, such as having a strong voice.

Chart: 2015 global industrial/professional 3D printing equipment shipments TOP5 companies

Source: Seri research

Human interaction

In the future, all kinds of interactions will be deeply integrated, so that smart devices will be more naturally synchronized with human biological reactions and processes, including thinking processes, kinesthetics, and even a person's cultural preferences. This field is full of novelties. The possibility.

The way of information exchange between people and machines is moving toward a higher level as the pace of technology convergence accelerates. The new human-computer interaction method is gradually applied to the field of manufacturing. The specific performance is in the aspects of smart interactive device flexibility and intelligent interactive device industry application. In the production process, the intelligent manufacturing system can independently undertake tasks such as analysis, judgment, decision-making, etc., highlighting the core position of people in the manufacturing system, and at the same time, with the cooperation of intelligent devices such as industrial robots and trackless agv, better realize the human potential. Machine intelligence and human intelligence are truly integrated and complement each other. The essence is man-machine integration.

sensor

China has basically formed a relatively complete industrial chain structure, and has continuously improved its level in materials, devices, systems, networks, etc., with 6,000 kinds of independent products, and established three major sensor production bases in China: Anhui Base and Shaanxi Base. And Heilongjiang base. The government has put forward guidelines for accelerating the development of the domestic sensor industry, and the future development of sensors will be improved in the direction of intelligence.

Industrial software

The construction of smart factories is inseparable from the wide application of industrial software. Industrial software includes two categories of basic and application software. System, middleware and embedded are the basic technology scope, and are not closely related to specific industrial management processes and processes. The industrial software mentioned below mainly refers to application software, including operation. Management, production management and R&D design software.

Under the background of " Made in China 2025 ", industrial enterprises have changed their development model and accelerated the integration of the two industries. The demand for industrial software and information services will continue to increase. China continues to maintain its position as a growing force in the global industrial software market.

Specifically, in 2016, China's industrial software industry, such as CAD, CAE, CAM, CAPP, etc., accounted for about 8.3%, and information management such as ERP, CRM, HRM, etc., accounting for about 15.5. %; production control categories such as MES, PCS, PLC, etc. accounted for approximately 13.2%; the remaining 63% were embedded software development.

In terms of regions, North China and East China are the regions with the most industrial software applications, accounting for about half of the country. In terms of provinces and cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Jiangsu are regions with strong industrial software, accounting for about China's industrial software. More than half of the market size.

Widely apply MES (Manufacturing Execution System), APS (Advanced Production Scheduling), PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), quality management and other industrial software to achieve visualization and transparency of the production site. In the new factory, digital factory simulation software can be used to simulate equipment and production line layout, factory logistics, ergonomics, etc. to ensure a reasonable factory structure. In the process of advancing the digital transformation, it is necessary to ensure the data security of the plant and the safety of equipment and automation systems. When detecting defective products through professional testing equipment, it is necessary not only to be able to automatically divert the qualified products, but also to analyze the causes of quality problems through software such as SPC (Statistical Process Control).

Cloud manufacturing

Cloud manufacturing or manufacturing companies will integrate advanced information technology, manufacturing technology and emerging Internet of Things technologies. The plant capacity and process data will be concentrated on the cloud platform. Manufacturers can conduct big data analysis and customer relationship management in the cloud. Best performance.

The picture shows the concept of cloud manufacturing, and the process from traditional manufacturing to smart manufacturing to smart manufacturing to today's cloud manufacturing.

In China, we can see the group enterprise cloud manufacturing service platform developed by Aerospace Science and Industry Group for aerospace complex products, and access to the Group's affiliated institutes and bases with rich manufacturing resources and capabilities; CRRC Group is facing rail transit equipment. The Group's enterprise cloud manufacturing service platform has opened up the R&D, design, manufacturing, repair and service of rail vehicles, engineering machinery, electromechanical equipment, electronic equipment and related components; cloud manufacturing platforms for small and medium-sized enterprises have also emerged In the field of equipment manufacturing, luggage, shoes and hats and other industries.

Cloud manufacturing provides a new concept and model for manufacturing informationization. As a nascent concept, cloud manufacturing has a huge space for future development. However, the future development of cloud manufacturing still faces many key technology challenges, in addition to the integrated integration of technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, Semantic Web, high-performance computing, embedded systems , cloud-based manufacturing resources, and cloud management. Technologies such as engine, cloud manufacturing application collaboration, cloud manufacturing visualization and user interface are all important technologies to be overcome in the future. Focus on the advanced manufacturing WeChat public number (ID: amdaily) to get more intelligent manufacturing information.

to sum up

Building a smart factory is undoubtedly an important way for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises. At the same time, it should focus on the medium and long-term development strategy of the enterprise and rationally plan the blueprint for the construction of the smart factory according to the characteristics of its products, processes, equipment and orders. On the basis of promoting standardization and standardization, we will start from the most urgent problems that need to be solved, and pragmatically promote the construction of smart factories.