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Driven by the rapid development and market of intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, and with the support of relevant policies, more and more manufacturing enterprises have begun to carry out intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading. Many enterprises have invested a lot of material and financial resources to purchase advanced intelligent equipment such as industrial robots, intelligent libraries, AGVs, etc., adopt advanced intelligent manufacturing technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins, and launch advanced information systems such as MES, PLM, scADA...
However, whether from the perspective of input-output improvement or from the perspective of improving the value creation ability of enterprises, the actual effects brought by intelligent manufacturing of many enterprises are not satisfactory.
The reason is that enterprises do not have a good understanding of the essence of intelligent manufacturing, fail to grasp the correct direction of intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading, fail to formulate a scientific and reasonable implementation strategy, take a detour, fall into a misunderstanding, resulting in half the work.
First, do not pay attention to the choice of applicability and practicality,
Too much pursuit of advanced nature
Many enterprises have misunderstandings about the nature of intelligent manufacturing, one is that intelligent manufacturing is to achieve manufacturing automation, "machine substitution", enterprises to achieve intelligent manufacturing must use high-end intelligent equipment to replace labor in large quantities; the second is that intelligent manufacturing is to achieve manufacturing informatization, and enterprises must apply a new generation of information technology in large quantities to achieve intelligent manufacturing.
On the surface, the most intuitive feeling that intelligent manufacturing brings to people is manufacturing automation and manufacturing informatization, and many intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment suppliers are also trying to exaggerate the importance of manufacturing automation and manufacturing informatization of enterprises.
Therefore, many enterprise management, and even some intelligent manufacturing professional and technical personnel, regard how to apply more advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment as the top priority of promoting intelligent manufacturing.
As a result, enterprises have such a phenomenon: to evaluate whether intelligent manufacturing has been realized, first of all, whether advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment have been applied; to evaluate the level of intelligent manufacturing, first of all, how many advanced intelligent manufacturing technologies and intelligent equipment have been applied.
It is true that advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment are necessary means to achieve intelligent manufacturing, but we must soberly realize that the means are for the purpose.
The essence of intelligent manufacturing is to use advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment for production mode reengineering, the purpose of which is to solve the uncertainty problems (quality problems, green problems, efficiency problems, benefit problems, etc.) in the original production system, in order to enhance the ability of enterprise value creation.
Enterprises do not pay attention to the applicability and practicality of intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, too much pursuit of intelligent manufacturing technology and equipment advanced, often fall into the "intelligent manufacturing level seems to be very high, but the level of manufacturing capacity is not high" trap.
The company's industry background, product characteristics, production technology, manufacturing process, employee skill level and enterprise management level are different, and the advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment that need to be applied are also different.
Therefore, before deciding which advanced intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment need to be applied, enterprises should first conduct diagnostic analysis of the current production system of the enterprise, find out the practical problems that need to be solved through the implementation of intelligent manufacturing, and then match the applicable and practical intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment according to the actual problems.
Applicability means that the selected intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment can effectively solve the current practical problems of the enterprise; practical means that the performance level of the selected intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment is not redundant and economical.
Pay attention to the applicability and practical choice of intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, in order to scientifically, rationally and efficiently apply intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, give play to its enabling role, leverage and multiplier effect on intelligent manufacturing, and achieve the purpose of improving the value creation ability of intelligent manufacturing system and enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises.
Second, do not pay attention to systematic planning and design,
There are islands of automation and informatization
Smart factory is the main carrier for enterprises to achieve intelligent manufacturing, the transformation and upgrading of enterprise intelligent manufacturing generally starts from the construction of smart factories, therefore, the construction quality of smart factories will directly affect the quality of intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading of enterprises.
In the construction of smart factories, the biggest misunderstanding of enterprises is that in the early stage of smart factory construction, it does not pay attention to systematic planning and design, that is, there is no systematic planning and design of the material flow system and information flow system of smart factories, and only after the intelligent factory is completed and operated, it is found that there are automation islands and information islands, which seriously affects the overall operation efficiency and operation quality of smart factories, thereby affecting the full play of the intelligent manufacturing value of enterprises.
In the planning and design of the material flow system of the smart factory, the common problems of enterprises mainly include:
First, the overall layout planning and design of the factory is not done well, the planning layout of raw material warehouses, production workshops, finished product warehouses, etc. is unreasonable, and the logistics between raw material warehouses to each production workshop, between upstream and downstream production workshops, and between downstream production workshops and finished product warehouses cannot be effectively connected;
The second is that the overall layout planning and design of the workshop is not done, the logistics logic, logistics space, and logistics path design between the production lines are unreasonable, and the installation location of automated logistics devices such as AGVs, drum lines, and suspension chains is not left, and logistics automation cannot be realized systematically;
The third is to do a good job in the layout planning and design of the production line, pay attention to the automation of the processing performance of the production equipment, but ignore the automation of the unloading of the production equipment, ignore the automation of the material transfer between the production equipment, resulting in the impossible to achieve automation between the production equipment and the production processes. The above situations will lead to the emergence of intelligent factory automation islands.
In the planning and design of smart factory information flow system, the common problems of enterprises mainly include:
First, it has not done a good job in the top-level architecture design of enterprise informatization, and has not effectively covered all business sectors in the enterprise value chain;
Second, the systematic design of the enterprise information process is not done well, and the processes of some business sectors are missing and incomplete;
Third, there is no logical design of the enterprise information process, and some business processes cannot be effectively connected, affecting the flow of information. The above situation will lead to the emergence of intelligent factory informatization islands.
In order to prevent the emergence of intelligent factory automation islands and information islands, enterprises should make systematic planning and design at the beginning of the construction of smart factories.
First, through the analysis of the enterprise value chain, the various value activities of the enterprise are identified and confirmed, and the logical relationship and logical structure of the material flow and information flow of the enterprise to create value for the enterprise are sorted out clearly;
The second is to systematically diagnose the production and operation system of the enterprise through the analysis of the enterprise value stream, identify the value-added links and non-value-added links in the material flow and information flow of the enterprise, systematically plan and design the material flow system and the information flow system, and improve the value creation ability of the value-added link;
The third is to do the overall planning and design of the enterprise intelligent factory on the basis of the analysis of the enterprise value chain and the value stream analysis, that is, to implement automation on the basis of smooth material circulation and information on the basis of smooth information circulation.
Third, do not pay attention to the reconstruction of the operation management model,
The system is not functioning well
Enterprises often expect that after the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, operation management can be easier due to the realization of manufacturing automation and manufacturing informatization.
But in fact, many enterprises will find that the operation of the intelligent manufacturing system is not as smooth as expected after the establishment and operation of the intelligent manufacturing system for a period of time, and the operation of the intelligent manufacturing system brings more convenience to the operation managers of the enterprise, but more adaptation.
For example, after the traditional production material collection mode is changed to the information-based material and automated material distribution mode, the production site will still have a material break that needs to be manually and urgently handled; the traditional equipment post-maintenance management is changed to "intelligent monitoring of equipment status" after the equipment prediction maintenance, the production site will still appear abnormal equipment shutdown, resulting in production line suspension requiring manual emergency treatment.
The reason is not that there is a problem with the intelligent manufacturing system, but that after the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, the operation and management mode of the enterprise has not been transformed and upgraded, and the traditional operation management model is no longer applicable to the intelligent manufacturing system.
Enterprises should realize that on the surface, the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing is the upgrading of advanced manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, the establishment of a new intelligent manufacturing system, in fact, intelligent manufacturing is to build a new production and operation model, which is the reshaping of the production and operation system of enterprises.
Therefore, after the establishment of the intelligent manufacturing system of the enterprise, how to operate and manage it is particularly important, because only the efficient operation and management of the intelligent manufacturing system can truly exert its value.
Therefore, if enterprises want to achieve efficient operation and management of the intelligent manufacturing system, they must establish a new operation management model that matches the system, that is, in the context of intelligent manufacturing, the enterprise operation and management mode is reconstructed.
For example, after the traditional production material acceptance mode is changed to the information-based material and automated material distribution mode, the focus of operation management should be changed from the traditional material planning and distribution to the design and optimization of the logic of information-based material and automated material distribution; after the traditional equipment post-maintenance management is changed to the equipment predictive maintenance characterized by "intelligent monitoring of equipment status", the operation management focus will change from the traditional equipment fault maintenance to "monitor the dynamic deterioration trend of key components of the equipment, eliminate micro-defects, and achieve zero downtime" Predict the maintenance of the equipment status of the characteristics.
Only by reconstructing a new operation and management model that is compatible with the intelligent manufacturing system can enterprises operate and manage the intelligent manufacturing system and make the intelligent manufacturing system play a better value.
Fourth, do not pay attention to the training of professional talents,
Too dependent on external technological forces
Due to the advanced nature of intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment, in order to better implement the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, enterprises generally hire professional external technical forces as a help.
For example, employ a professional intelligent manufacturing system planning and design team to design intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading programs; hire professional automation manufacturers to implement manufacturing automation system design, intelligent equipment selection and manufacturing, intelligent equipment installation and debugging, etc.; hire professional manufacturing information manufacturers to implement manufacturing information architecture and process design, information software system development, information system on-line debugging and application guidance, etc.
In this process, many enterprises are prone to serious dependence on external technical forces, thus ignoring the cultivation of intelligent manufacturing professionals in their own enterprises.
There are two main reasons for this, one is that the external technical force is experienced, the ability is reliable, and the risk is controllable; the other is that the intelligent manufacturing technology and intelligent equipment have their advanced and complex, and the professional and technical personnel of the enterprise are difficult to master in a short period of time, and it is difficult to cultivate professional talents.
The excessive dependence of enterprises on external technical forces will not only affect the growth speed and quality of the company's intelligent manufacturing professionals and technicians, but also affect the sustainable operation and improvement of the company's intelligent manufacturing system.
Enterprises should realize that the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing is not only an upgrade of technology and equipment, but also an upgrade of the technical ability of the professional talent team, the core of which is to create an intelligent manufacturing professional talent team that can deeply understand the advanced concept of intelligent manufacturing, solidly grasp the advanced technology of intelligent manufacturing, accurately grasp the advanced direction of intelligent manufacturing, and be able to achieve independent management and continuous improvement, and constantly pursue higher efficiency and higher goals.
At the beginning of the implementation of intelligent manufacturing, enterprises should put the construction of the intelligent manufacturing professional team of the enterprise in an important position, and put the work through the entire process of intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading of the enterprise. The more effective approach is as follows:
The first is to select technical elites and business backbones with a certain theoretical basis for intelligent manufacturing related majors and strong learning ability, form a special technical team for intelligent manufacturing, and formulate a special training plan in combination with the intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading plan to improve the training plan;
The second is to match the personnel and posts according to the different majors, technical expertise and work experience of the training objects, combined with the needs of the intelligent manufacturing professional and technical posts required by the enterprise, carry out targeted training, and improve the pertinence of training;
The third is to adopt a variety of training forms in an eclectic manner, such as sending training objects to intelligent manufacturing partners for off-the-job training, participating in the research and development and delivery of intelligent manufacturing projects, and also cooperating with colleges and universities and scientific research institutes to hold special seminars or jointly train targeted graduate students, jointly carry out the training of senior talents in intelligent manufacturing, and improve the effectiveness of training. ■
Author Affilications
Mei Qingchen Henan Institute of Engineering
Jia Lubing Wang Xi Luoyang Advanced Manufacturing Industry R&D Base of Tianjin High-end Equipment Research Institute of Tsinghua University
This article was published in Business Management Magazine Issue 11, 2021