Finding things to automate is not always easy. Thinking outside of the box is a key part of optimizing production lines to create a smart factory. Observing and conducting numerous time studies can help significantly in identifying the places where time is lost.Fortunately, we can learn from the experience of others. Factories vary a lot but they also have some common elements that they all share. Optimizing these elements is a sure way to bring a permanent shot of adrenaline into a production site.
5. Automating Work Staging
Staging is a general term that means having materials ready when you need them. This can apply at various scales and it can apply to individual machines or whole departments. Tackling this issue generally will have a general improvement in operations. It can be difficult to estimate how often there is waiting or stopping to go get more materials.
A smart factory is going to be on top of staging. The work will always be ready waiting for the next step. When a machine or operator is stuck waiting for materials, it represents irrecoverable lost time.
Large logistics warehouses that handle massive amount of distribution have made a lot of progress on this front. Robotic transports are doing a lot of this work in larger facilities. A robotic friend will automatically pick up a finished palette of materials. A worker on the other side of the plant will just have his source materials parked ready for running. Repeating this scenario hundreds of times a day over years can create an incredible amount of savings.
4. Repetitive Tasks
Doing the same task all day every day can be slow, expensive, and mentally draining. There are a huge number of repetitive tasks that are ripe for automation. At it’s most basic level this can be getting an envelope inserter instead of hand-stuffing envelopes. However, we can also automate more complex tasks. Horizon and Standard have been showcasing a robotic arm that can load book binder pockets. A smart factory will utilize automation for repetitive task and then
3. Job and Work Scheduling
Sometimes it feels like equipment sits idle forever and other times it can feel like there is a mountain of work waiting behind a slow machine. Proper scheduling can fix both of these problems by helping to optimize the working time for each machine. Frankly, this is a lot easier than it sounds. Sometimes production slows down because no two jobs are the same and they may have unique issues or reasons.
The main hurdle with job scheduling is predicting how long a job will take. It is difficult to be confident that a slot will be open when jobs sometimes run long or sit. Smart software packages like iCE LiNK can make this simple. By tracking jobs over time and understanding their characteristics it is possible to have very accurate estimates for job duration. Once job duration is known a plant manager in a smart factory can start to easily shuffle blocks of time around to suit the larger needs of the site.
2. Automating Job Setups
In the graphic arts industry the production is surprisingly precise and accurate. Customers expect folds to line and and artwork to smoothly transition. This means setting up print finishing equipment can take a large amount of time to dial into perfection. Automating the set up can save hours a day.
Some equipment takes longer to set up than it does to actually run a job. Paper folding is a great example because of how tricky some folds can be. Folders are incredibly fast machines. It’s not uncommon for an operator to spend 2 hours setting up a manual paper folder for 15 minutes of actual folding. Turning that setup into 10 minutes means nearly 10 times the production completed with a machine at the same running speed.
1. Automating Packaging
The knowledge around optimizing and automating packaging is well established. Simply because this is a phase of manufacturing that almost every production site has within their operation. Whether it is bundling materials, packing the box, or sealing the carton there are several places worth looking at.
There are several phases of packaging. Goods are usually bundled, bagged, or stacked neatly into cartons as efficiently as possible, primarily to reduce transport costs. The ideal packing of cartons is a huge driver for this cost reduction. Pick and place machines are perfect for this task. After packing the carton needs to be taped up. Carton sealers are excellent machines for taping boxes closed. Just pass the box through and tape heads will do the taping automatically.