Drives & Controls July / August 2022

28 n AUTOMATION July/August 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com The death of the production line? E ach year, several words drop out of the dictionary. They become obsolete. For example, “slubberdegullion” (a slobbering or worthless fellow) and “groaking” (watching someone longingly while they eat), are two that are now considered obsolete by lexicographers. It might not be imminent, but my prediction is that one day, the term “production line” will fall into disuse and join them in the obsolete camp. Across all industries, there is a movement from mass production to high-mix low- volume (HMLV) manufacturing or – at its most extreme – personalisation. This isn’t a change that has happened overnight – the shift to smaller batches and more frequent changeovers has been underway for years. What has changed in a short space of time, however, is the importance of e- commerce as a channel to market. Online retail sales have exploded since 2019, and are expected to hit $7,500 trillion globally by 2025. This has put unprecedented strain on the manufacturing sector, as the expectation is to make products on- demand with zero defects and full traceability. Producers are finding that the conventional production line, which is so well suited to high-volume mass production, isn’t compatible with an HMLV manufacturing approach. A traditional line just isn’t designed to take account of subtleties in demand, while maintaining commercially viable levels of efficiency. Today, manufacturing needs to be flexible to be able to respond quickly. In the past, building flexibility into a production operation generally involved quick-change parts and more manual intervention. At a time when labour shortages have hit crisis point, this isn’t an option. Instead, the personalised production approach requires systems that are flexible by design – a goal that can be achieved by developing autonomous and collaborative factory eco-systems. That means embracing the concepts of synchronicity and modularity. Rather than assuming that production has to be linear, with operations taking place sequentially, manufacturers need to consider an approach that involves multiple processing stations that, although inter-connected, are independent rather than inter-dependent, and can be used non-sequentially. Only by tearing up the production line design rulebook will manufacturers reach a position of true agility. There are three key elements that need to be addressed for a business to achieve a collaborative and autonomous factory – technology, people and discipline. The technology: game-changers and game-enablers Robotic technology has seen the advent of collaborative and autonomous robots, while Industry 4.0 has introduced an entire suite of evolving technologies, from big data and cloud computing to augmented reality (AR) and Internet of Things (IoT). All of these technologies have huge potential to add value and create flexible workflows going forwards, but the challenge is using them effectively. Take big data, for example. There is plenty of data available on the factory floor, but how do production managers identify the useful data and utilise it effectively? The key is having not just the game-changing technology, but also “game enablers” – in other words, proven industrial automation platforms, and partners with experience of technologies such as 5G, edge AI (artificial intelligence) and data analytics. The people: from automate to replace to automate to empower One ingredient that is too often overlooked is people. Ultimately, this approach has the potential to empower workers – to enable them to Are traditional production lines becoming obsolete? Stuart Coulton, marketing manager at Omron Electronics, argues that the move from mass production to high-mix low-volume manufacturing is changing the way that factories are designed and operate. Versatile and flexible autonomous mobile robots could play a key role in replacing traditional inflexible conveyor systems in factories of the future