China's Ministry of Science and Technology, in its "12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology," defined intelligent manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing technology as: "Intelligent manufacturing is information-based manufacturing that is oriented towards the entire product lifecycle and achieves ubiquitous sensing conditions." However, this single statement does not clearly describe the meaning of intelligent manufacturing. The United States also has a definition of intelligent manufacturing, which is more comprehensive. Before proceeding, it is necessary to analyze the two English terms.
The understanding of intelligent manufacturing in Europe and America has been gradually improving. A 2005 report on the international "Intelligent Manufacturing Systems" program described the level of intelligent manufacturing in the late 1990s as follows: "At the level of specialized workshops and factory operations, intelligent manufacturing has been implemented to a relatively high degree: CNC machine tools, through programming, execute different tasks; connecting them to a computer enables automatic control of production pace; the development of robots, especially reprogrammable memory and sensor devices, has enabled first-generation intelligent robots to perform more applications and react intelligently." This relatively high level of intelligent manufacturing is clearly still quite rudimentary today. Therefore, the concept of intelligent manufacturing is bound to evolve, and its connotation will become increasingly rich.
Intelligent manufacturing is the realization of intelligentization and innovation across the entire manufacturing value chain, and a further enhancement of the deep integration of informatization and industrialization.
Currently, the "intelligence" in intelligent manufacturing is still at the "Smart" level. Intelligent manufacturing systems have the ability to collect, process, and analyze data, accurately execute instructions, and achieve closed-loop feedback. However, the trend of intelligent manufacturing is to truly achieve "Intelligent," where intelligent manufacturing systems can learn autonomously, make autonomous decisions, and continuously optimize.
Among the key technologies of intelligent manufacturing, intelligent products and services can help enterprises innovate their business models; intelligent equipment, intelligent production lines, intelligent workshops and intelligent factories can help enterprises innovate their production models; intelligent R&D, intelligent management, intelligent logistics and supply chain can help enterprises innovate their operating models; and intelligent decision-making can help enterprises make scientific decisions.
The applications of intelligent manufacturing systems are wide-ranging and practical. Here are a few typical application scenarios:
1. Intelligent Manufacturing: Intelligent manufacturing systems can realize the intelligent and autonomous production process in the manufacturing field, greatly improving production efficiency and precision. For example, digital workshops, through CNC machining technology, realize the intelligent control and management of processing equipment such as robots, improving manufacturing efficiency and precision.
2. Intelligent Quality Inspection: Intelligent manufacturing systems can achieve comprehensive control and management of product quality through technologies such as sensors and optical inspection, greatly optimizing the quality inspection process and improving production efficiency and product quality. For example, the application of intelligent optical inspection technology can quickly detect surface defects in complex workpieces and record data changes, thereby generating high-quality inspection reports to guide lean production processes and improve production efficiency.
3. Intelligent Logistics and Warehousing: Intelligent manufacturing systems can integrate and intelligently manage production processes in logistics, warehousing, and other fields, improving warehousing and logistics efficiency, material tracking, and production tracking. For example, intelligent warehousing systems can automatically determine whether goods have entered or left the warehouse and whether inventory quantities are reasonable through sensing, providing real-time data support for enterprises to achieve lean production management.
4. Intelligent Customer Customization: Intelligent manufacturing systems can combine big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to achieve personalized product customization, catering to the diverse and rapidly changing needs of consumers. For example, in the automotive manufacturing industry, automakers incorporate IoT technology and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to automate processes such as real-time vehicle configuration, workshop operations, and production progress, flexibly handling product customization for different individual needs.
In summary, intelligent manufacturing systems can realize the intelligentization and autonomy of the production process in different stages of the manufacturing field (processing and manufacturing, quality inspection, logistics and warehousing, customer customization, etc.), thereby achieving higher production efficiency and quality, and bringing greater economic and social benefits.
