It's often said in the industry that we still have a lot to learn in order to achieve Industry 4.0. Among these lessons, process technology is the most fundamental and the one that needs to be addressed first.
In all aspects of factory production, process engineering plays a fundamental and leading role. If equipment is the muscle of a factory, and sensors and networks are its nerves, then process engineering is its soul. Therefore, improving process engineering is imperative.
First, improvements in process engineering should begin with lean optimization of existing processes, implementing process standardization, promoting lean processes, and researching process robustness. Whether in traditional production methods or smart factories in an Industry 4.0 environment, lean and stable manufacturing processes are essential, and this is the fundamental way to solve our current efficiency and quality problems.
The "intelligence" in a smart factory refers to the refinement of a series of judgment factors and thought processes by technical personnel based on specific business processes, which cannot be compared with human intelligence. Therefore, its requirements for manufacturing processes are much higher than those of traditional production methods. Imperfect processes currently only lead to low production efficiency and unstable product quality, but in the context of Industry 4.0, unstable process procedures can lead to unpredictable errors, causing the smart factory to shut down and resulting in significant losses.
Secondly, to ensure the robustness and effectiveness of our processes, we can no longer rely on verification methods based on actual production. Instead, we need to introduce a key concept from Industry 4.0—digital twins. This involves simulating the real-world environment and conditions in a virtual digital space, creating a virtual digital factory that is identical to the real one. This virtual reality environment allows for the verification, feedback, and improvement of processes, workflows, and plans. Whether it's the details of the processing or the operational status of the macro-level process layout and planning, everything can be verified and tested in the virtual digital factory. This will greatly improve the maturity of our work and save significant time and resources.
In our processes such as casting, welding, sheet metal, and machining, we have begun to use simulation, but its application is currently limited and lacks standardization. Going forward, we should develop a detailed plan, establish a good simulation environment, expand the field of simulation, and make simulation truly effective, gradually achieving real-time simulation of the entire environment.
Third, we need to transform our technological thinking. All changes begin with a shift in mindset. Traditionally, the main task of process engineers is to compile process specifications for single processes. In the future, the main task of process engineers will be to refine the logic of process thinking, continuously supplement, improve, and optimize the vast process database, and maintain process knowledge data. The actual process design work may be completed by computers.
The process specifications will no longer be in the form of a single process, but rather a multi-process discrete process. While ensuring product quality, the process route will be made as flexible as possible to provide the smart factory's decision-making system with as many options as possible. By comprehensively analyzing various influencing factors, the optimal route can be arranged.
Outdated traditional craft ideas must also be discarded, most notably the habit of clamping and alignment and the marking of tolerances.
In current production processes, clamping and alignment on machine tools wastes a significant amount of machine tool time, severely impacting production efficiency. However, due to continuous improvements in machining precision and the increasing functionality of machine tools, clamping and alignment issues can now be resolved using precision positioning fixtures and the machine tool's self-alignment function.
The practice of specifying tolerances is a result of the past reliance on conventional machine tools for machining. This was a measure taken to reduce the probability of human error in machining and to improve the product qualification rate. However, this caused the actual machined dimensions of the products to deviate from the normal distribution, which is not conducive to ensuring the quality stability of batch products.
Currently, CNC machining equipment is widely used, and the machining accuracy has been greatly improved compared to the past, so it is no longer necessary to require the process dimensions to be marked with body tolerances.
Fourth, research the application of robots and quick-change fixtures. The intelligence that Industry 4.0 aims to achieve is not to replace people, and smart factories are not unmanned factories, but rather to enable people and machines to work together better to achieve higher labor productivity.
Therefore, in smart factories, efforts should be made to eliminate the unstable factor of human intervention. Given the current state of manufacturing, achieving highly automated, unmanned production is neither realistic nor economical. Introducing robots into suitable stages is the best option to improve stability and efficiency. The combined use of robots and quick-change fixtures can adapt to the production of multiple varieties in small batches, improving production efficiency and stability while maintaining flexibility.
Fifth, integrate existing process information systems to achieve a single data source and ensure interoperability. Achieving operation of all business processes on a unified platform is a key goal of Industry 4.0. Previously, we invested heavily in IT infrastructure, especially process information systems, which have reached a relatively high level among all business operations. However, the current IT infrastructure lacks overall planning and coordination; the various information systems operate relatively independently, without sharing information resources, creating information silos that significantly hinder the improvement of overall business efficiency. Therefore, we now need to integrate the process information systems into a unified platform from a company-wide perspective to truly realize the potential of the IT systems.
We have a long way to go and much to learn on the road to achieving Industry 4.0, but these are not problems. As long as we seize opportunities, formulate practical plans, and move forward step by step, we can improve ourselves in the process, and Industry 4.0 will get closer and closer to us.
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