That’s because, depending on the material, the process is going to wear the tool. But if you have a tolerance of 0.0005 (0.0127 mm) or under, you’re asking for trouble. If you have a tolerance of 0.005 (0.127 mm) and a trusted material, lights out precision machining is not a problem. But the reality is that any major leap forward on cost and efficiency will no longer be possible through automation alone, since most of the tasks that can be automated in an automotive factory have already been tackled. Tolerances are another important consideration. This idea of replacing humans with a gadget or process that will do the same job faster, better, or cheaper is not a new one. There’s no doubt that the auto industry will continue to vigorously pursue automation solutions to lower the cost of producing cars. Lights out machining is a method of automating manufacturing to minimize or eliminate the amount of human interaction needed. They think of the “lights-out” factory that General Motors Chief Executive Roger Smith fantasized about in 1982 and Elon Musk talks about building today-plants so dominated by robots and machines that they don’t need lights to work. Harvard Business article: When people think of the automotive Factory of the Future, the first word that comes to mind is automation. The idea is that workers can leave the premises once. Lights-out manufacturing is gaining momentum due to the manufacturing industry’s chronic labor shortage and the need to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. Our comments are written on a grey background, so it is easy to distinguish between the two. The term lights out manufacturing refers to running production shifts with minimal, if any, human support or supervision. This article is a mix between a reposted article written by Harvard Business Review and comments from Wiksfors technology. Harvard Business Review, authors: Ron Harbour and Jim Schmidt However, highly unstructured tasks like equipment repair and installation will probably always require some human intervention and never be fully automated.Source: Tomorrow’s Factories Will Need Better Processes, Not Just Better Robots “While there are dozens of robotics technologies that can automate physical tasks, we have identified the most important ones, including robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, and legged robots, and assigned their average technology maturity based on findings from interviews in addition to our other research in the space.”īased on the report’s findings, the company predicts that most manufacturing tasks requiring one or two highly mature robots will be automated between the late 2020s and the early 2030s. “Achieving lights-out manufacturing will require the use of robotics technologies to automate physical processes, such as moving materials, cleaning tanks, and inspecting products and assets, alongside software-based automation of logical processes,” said Miraj Mainali, senior research associate at Lux Research and lead author of the report. While most of the funding is in the form of venture capital investments in emerging startups, public companies also have raised millions in post-IPO funding, with North America and Asia being the two biggest investors in robotics and automation for manufacturing. Similarly, funding in robotics and automation in manufacturing also has increased significantly since 2015. Past attempts to build lights out factoriesfacilities that rely so little on humans that they can run with the lights offhave all come to the same realization: manufacturing needs people. Furthermore, it presents a framework that can be used across all industry verticals to visualize the timeline of lights-out manufacturing moving forward.Īccording to the Lux Tech Signal, there has been a steady rise in activity and interest in lights-out manufacturing from stakeholders in the past five years, and ideas developed in the late 20th century are now having a resurgence because of modern technologies like advanced robotics, computer vision, Industrial Internet of Things, machine learning algorithms, and improved computing. The company’s report, “The Path to Lights-Out Manufacturing,” explores the road map for automating different types of manufacturing tasks, including the robotics technologies involved the main drivers and barriers for automation and a lights-out manufacturing timeline for different manufacturing tasks. The lure of churning out parts overnight, with little or no labor cost, is understandably attractive to many manufacturers that are constantly looking for. As more tasks become automated across manufacturing, these environments will rely less and less upon manual human labour, with the goal of lights-out manufacturing.Īchieving lights-out manufacturing is a major goal for many companies, but it might not be realistic because of significant barriers and a prolonged timeline, according to new analysis from Lux Research, a technology research and innovation advisory service.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |