How do you realize a smart factory?
It starts with a well-organized flow, logical processes, trained staff and, of course, a high degree of digitization in everything you do.
After that, it actually requires 8 steps, which are completed in an improvement cycle. In other words, it is a loop in which the company gets smarter and smarter.
The 8 steps:
- Connect – connect the shop floor to all databases.
- Collect – put all data in a logical location and group.
- Save – make sure all data is easily accessible (SQL databases, data lakes, etc.)
- Analyze – make the data usable for analysis, is everything correct?
- Visualize – make the data transparent to the organization.
- Finding patterns – what exactly is happening and what can we do with it?
- Predicting – what will happen if we continue like this? What happens if we change something?
- Solve – what exactly do we need to do to improve?
This leads to:
- Productivity Improvement
- Better capacity utilization
- Revenue increase
- Profit Improvement
The challenge
However, most companies struggle with the first step: Connect.
This is because all systems use different terms and logic. And many software systems present in the plant are often too outdated to integrate properly.
Tomorrow I will give some explanation and examples of how to effectively connect the workplace and collect data.
