What is Smart Manufacturing?
Smart Manufacturing (SM) is the process of combining various technologies and solutions and implementing them in the manufacturing ecosystem to create a fully-integrated and automated environment that responds in real-time to actions and demands.
The various technologies included in the sphere of SM range from big data processing to 3D printing. As an intricate and disruptive force in the industry, implementing smart technology is no easy feat and requires several processes. But integrated successfully, SM leads to efficiently managing manufacturing operations with great precision and collaboration among all sides of the supply chain.
How is Smart Manufacturing used?
As we have introduced, SM can be used in a plethora of ways, from storing data on a cloud to automating factory lines to receiving alerts in real time. These technology enablers are active in manufacturing in order to generate, process, and optimize both data and production.
Big data analytics in SM, for example, gathers and analyzes information to accurately predict supply chain and fix issues in real-time. Advanced robotics in SM can directly communicate with the manufacturing systems, solving problems and acting on issues immediately.
In the past, information and collected data was stored in local systems on individual devices and was only accessible after it was really needed. Production relied on human-based skills and capability. Nowadays, the factory digital transformation improves product quality, automates production, reduces costs, and predicts analysis. Manufacturing operations are exceeding tradition and leading into the future of production.
Benefits of Smart Manufacturing:
The benefits of smart manufacturing technology include improving factory efficiency, reducing material waste, precise delivery dates, minimizing production costs, and increasing sales. With the help of SM, smart factory employees can accurately predict most issues and quickly fix them, without creating any further problems. This helps manufacturers reduce cost and time. As it gradually continues to grow, SM will also be able to produce new technology-based manufacturing jobs. The result will lead to an entire optimization of the manufacturing industry to increase energy efficiency, safer working conditions, improved productivity, and higher quality products.
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With the help of advanced technology, smart digital transformation enables manufacturers to exceed any level of production previously seen. And it’s already transforming every aspect of the manufacturing industry, from supply chain configurations, research, and data, to smart MES (manufacturing execution system). Manufacturing has entered and continues to enter an era of mass customization in which the collaboration and connectivity between producers, consumers, and the supply chain has never been stronger. With the help of smart machines, budgets and costs are now allocated and focused on producing effective goods to the mass. A concept that would not be possible without Smart Manufacturing.
