Drives & Controls July / August 2022

32 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING July/August 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com Path to an agile future lies in virtual worlds T here are three distinct factors that are driving increased automation and digitalisation in UK manufacturing: the prohibitive cost of labour; the desire for remote working and monitoring; and the trend to onshoring manufacturing for supply chain security. Automated processes can alleviate all of these challenges. So, how does a manufacturer move from relying on intensive manual operations towards automated environments? The answer lies in leveraging digital design capabilities to ensure that they are building industrial manufacturing that is not only fit for purpose today, but is also future-proofed in terms of manufacturing agility and operational optimisation as product designs and consumer demands change. Traditionally, unskilled labour was cheap and automation took place only in“islands” where it was needed for tasks such as complex, high-speed assembly. This approach has meant that the UK has always had a productivity challenge that we have seemingly been unable to resolve. We do not enjoy the same level of automation as other industrialised countries such as Germany. UK manufacturing is now being challenged by emerging economies that do not have our industrial and manufacturing legacy. The tendency is to continue to do things the way they have always been done, and to shun change. New entrants to the market come in with a clean slate and deploy elevated levels of automation, allowing them to extract valuable data to optimise their operations. Significant and accelerating changes in consumption patterns mean we need to be building systems that are agile enough to cope with those changes. Building digital models is not as expensive as you might imagine because there are many pre-built models for applications such as robotic cells, conveying, assembly and warehousing systems. These can be re-used when building a virtual environment. In some instances, it may be necessary to build specific models for particular elements of your manufacturing process. Training benefits Digital design also provides the basis for creating data and information models that can help to transfer knowledge. Not only do we have digital twin environments, but we can also create augmented reality (AR) environments from the same models that can be used to train and inform seasonal workers, for example. This reduces training times significantly. Using AR with digital instructions is much easier than providing physical training, or written work methods. Operators can use smart mobile devices or digital glasses that provide themwith work instructions, rather than having to read sheets of paper. If you look at the UK workforce, there are many experienced personnel with extensive engineering knowledge who are approaching retirement. This will leave massive skills gaps, and the challenge is how to transfer that knowledge and experience to those coming into the sector. AR is an effective way of digitalising working methods. Enhancing agility Agility is crucial to modern manufacturing because consumer demand is so volatile. What people want today is not necessarily what they will want tomorrow. When we look at some of the impacts of recent times – such as supply chain disruption – we need manufacturing processes that are adaptable. For example, what impact will using a different component, or a different grade of raw material, have on a process? These factors can all be mapped using digital twins. We can take optimised processes that we have developed, add variables into the virtual environment, and run numerous scenarios to understand the impact on manufacturing. For greenfield sites, it makes sense to optimise them using digital design techniques which reduce the project investment risk for a Technologies such as digital twins and augmented reality could be essential for the UK manufacturing sector if it is to raise its automation and productivity levels to those of rival markets. Grant Coffin, Rockwell Automation’s software and control business manager for the UK and Ireland, examines the roles that digital technologies could play. With digital twins, testing, simulation and emulation of new production facilities can be conducted in a virtual environment before a single brick is laid.