How does ABB build an autonomous factory
Today’s robots can do more than just perform scheduled tasks. We are living in a society with more robots around us than ever before. There has been no shortage of predictions recently about how advanced technological solutions and artificial intelligence including robotics will see humans replaced in all kinds of jobs. But some information technology experts see a less drastic outcome. In that version of the future, people will still have a role working alongside smart systems however that role will be a little bit different to what humans at work do; either the technology for the next decades will not be good enough to take over human responsibilities completely, or the decisions will have human consequences that are too important to delegate them completely to a machine. Life is not static and a system that is meant to be fully autonomous or automatic but suddenly deviates puts unrealistic demands for humans. Fortunately, there are systems which should never have any system failures. New autonomous and automatic systems can be used widely in factories where humans so far have been doing some simple manual tasks. Augmented reality and artificial intelligence technologies offer some of the most powerful manufacturing technology solutions.
The digital trends – a virtual replica of all physical infrastructure – vary across industries and locations. Consumer goods producers invest more than 8% of the total revenue in setting up and developing digital factories whereas metals and mining corporations invest less than 4% of their revenue[1]. Over the next five to ten years, those industries expect these initiatives to drive efficiency and revenue increase of 12% on average respectively. Of course, digital factory deployments can bring other benefits alongside increasing factory operation effectiveness and keep up with new types of product design that are challenging the limits of conventional manufacturing. Digital factories can also help companies achieve their sustainability goals, as the consumption of energy, metals and raw materials can be reduced. Some of the mentioned savings are likely the result of more streamlined supply chains and less warehousing as raw materials are ordered and supplied only in the required quantity.
But the vision goes further still. One of the world’s leading advanced technology companies called ABB has announced recently they were going to deliver completely automatic solutions to a new battery factory located in the north of Sweden. While today companies have implemented networking technologies that connect components, machines, production managements systems, vehicles, workers and even products, there are some unique companies that want to have something more apart from new track and trace systems.
There are a few key technology features of a digital factory which should be indicated here. The connected factory is vertically integrated within an organization but many companies are also looking beyond the boundaries of the digital factory itself and are targeting horizontal integration of the full value chain. To get there, simply connecting systems is not enough anymore. An example of true synchronization is an automatic factory which can bring even more physical benefits. Using flexible modular production assets instead of traditional production lines is the main purpose of the factory digitalization process. The modular production line consists of robots, storage vehicles, fixtures which are flexibly integrated and connected in the production flow as required by a production process. Integrated planning and scheduling systems with a factory from a single machine level over manufacturing execution systems (MES) to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems including suppliers and customers, allow an immediate reaction to changes in resource availability or unexpected demand. Apart from creating a fully automated factory, many companies are also planning to deploy a variety of digital technologies that help their employees get more done faster and improve business processes.
In a digital and smart factory the entire value chain has been brought together on a single campus from development through design to interaction with an end user including maintenance services and employee trainings. At the heart of the futuristic factory is an information technology system driving all production process elements. A system based on tons of code, making autonomous decisions regarding waste, energy usage and utilities to optimize operations costs. Fortunately, it is now possible to create a completely digital and automatic factory with digital representation of products, equipment or production lines and plant infrastructure. According to one of the top consulting companies PwC four out of ten companies plan to create and use digital technologies within the next five years.
ABB and Northvolt partnership
There is a lot of news now about environmental protection initiatives which are going to reduce the negative impact of humans on the natural landscape around the world. One of the ways to complete this goal is to automate production lines and put advanced software products and robots there which will optimize all processes even better. The rise of industrial robots in the 1980s led to an evolution of the assembly line concept. Routine tasks that were being done by workers started to be performed by robots with greater accuracy and efficiency. With the spread of Internet of Things, devices and other communication protocols, robots and consequently artificial intelligence started taking numerous scheduled tasks from factory workers. This amazing movement was firstly initiated by German high tech companies that branded this change as the 4th Industrial Revolution. From the other side, there was an Asian champion — China, taking an advantage of access to low-cost human workforce as an alternative way for the automation revolution. A few years ago, the Chinese long-term strategy was upside down and Chine started becoming the biggest advocate of automation. Both local and national initiatives started developing their own robot know-how creating a new chapter for the Chinese economy.
Everything that can be automated will be automated. The global business will always take advantage of getting more profits from the existing operations. However some things and business processes are more difficult to be automated than others. For instance, Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, was criticized by analysts in 2018 for automating their assembly lines more than necessary. The reason which was indicated by specialists was the fact that the total cost of automation exceeded the cost of human-led assembly lines. Even if it could be the truth the benefits should be found in increasing the bar of commercially viable automation and not by going back to lower levels of automation and robotics.
There will be a new battery Gigafactory in the north of Sweden (the biggest one in Europe) with a production capacity of 125 MWh per year. The factory is expected to start commercial production in 2020 with a starting target capacity of 8 GWh per year and finally Northvolt will aim for 32 GWh once the factory will be completed in 2023. Companies like Siemens and Swiss rival ABB has invested in the project and offered their digital enterprise technologies to help build the factory. The main goal of the factory from the business side is to design and construct a fully automated factory with a minimum number of people involved in the production process. The ABB plan is to supply a fully integrated robotics and automation and electrification system for the four-billion-euro factory. Using the digital technologies including cloud computing, will enable the factory to optimize their battery production process at each step of the value chain.
Both partners — Northvolt and ABB — will work together to develop battery technology in production platform, cell and module design. This unique and amazing integrated industrial plant will be a true showcase for the company ABB in industrial automation and smart electrification. The project aims for smarter and greener electric storage solutions. As ABB is developing its expertise in building new software solutions for industrial sectors, in the same time, the company keeps its focus on the sustainability and environmental issues generated by the global economy. While companies in Europe are moving their processes into digitalization business, China is not staying behind and is also developing robotics know-how. For instance, according to Monetary Watch, the mobile phone company Chanqying Precision Technology Company used to be run by 650 workers but now after the implemention of automated solutions there are only 60. While robots take care of the production efficiency and quality, employees can manage the factory. According to the mentioned source, the general production increased by 250% ensuring better quality of end products.
Apart from delivering advanced robotics technology by ABB to a new Northvolt battery factory, the company is going to work on a new energy storage solution which can be used widely in many industries including automotive companies. Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things promise to decrease costs and increase output by connecting plant components, its infrastructure, warehouses and distribution systems together. There are a few elements of a plant which make it really advanced. As customers demand more personalization, manufacturers need to respond to the market’s need faster. Fueled by Industry 4.0 , a new kind of factory is able to address these aims. ABB also offers energy storage systems that are ready for connection to medium or high voltage grids and cover a power range of hundreds of kilowatts to tens of megawatts. The optimized energy systems enable fast response times to variations in supply and demand, helping to maintain grid stability and ensuring reliable and good quality energy supplies through a range of applications. By choosing ABB as an automatic system provider, Northvolt gains a reliable partner for the overall systems. The partnership with other information technology companies such as Siemens or Vestas brings an opportunity to create new innovative solutions for tomorrow’s reality.
The company digital culture will encourage the use of data for daily work, freeing employees to respond with greater creativity to solve technical issues and support business success. The digital investment in sensor-equipped machines opens new business doors. The transition to robot workers is good for business, creating a supply of cheaper and good quality products. As the battery production process requires a lot of different chemical components and raw materials, using advanced robots benefits human safety greatly. From part sorting to battery production, everything is completely automated. By incorporating customer feedback in the form of information, the company goal will be to steadily perfect the entire process. Apart from this, there is one more upside of the intelligent and automated factory which was not mentioned so far. It’s possible the fully automated factory will operate on pure touch sensors. If the automation systems are self-managed and human involvement is not necessary, light and heating will not be necessary to use as well. This can save money and help the environment by saving energy. In general, many companies view automation as step one in a cost reduction plan. In reality, automation will be always step two after creating a process that is stable enough for automation to be applied delivering the aforementioned benefits.
Summary
Digital and automatic factories are the future of goods manufacturing. Leading industrial companies have made a clear commitment to build and enable digital factories. The disruptive manufacturing technologies include features like the rapid increase in quantity and capability of robots in factories as well as the workplace. A new way of thinking to better align the capabilities of advanced technologies, allows engineers and workers to optimize advanced central information technology systems which can make more iterations eliminating unneeded risks and improve profits. Automation, however, is already a popular manufacturing process but with advances in artificial intelligence and remote connection and communication, the practice is likely to grow in the next few years.
Responsible automation is a multi-step process. The upfront investment in product designing and development that can be assembled in an automated way is a part of success. The flexibility of that approach enables many changes to be made in factory infrastructure and the way how an industrial plant works. Many international companies and corporations start investing money into new automatic manufacturing plants where as many processes as possible would be done by robots. This new trend has got some advantages and many disadvantages as well. The biggest upside of the digital transformation from the business side is to reduce every possible operation costs and consequently improve profit generation. Benefits such as production efficiency and more customized products make digital transformation succeed.
The major concern holding companies back from taking advantage of the potential of automatic and digital factories is a lack of digital vision and culture. As economic benefits are unknown or unclear as well as the global economy can fluctuate easily, the companies’ worries are reasonable. To help companies define and develop, a six step blueprint for digital success was prepared according to the newest Industry 4.0 expectations. However, implementing new digital strategies and hiring more staff, or training existing staff, can make the entire digitalization process easier for the both parties — business and customer. According to statistics, more than 50% of employees are not open to digital changes as a result of worries about their job place. For stress reduction, companies should prepare their employees for those changes effectively and create new jobs for workers whose workplace will be replaced by a machine.
Future goods production will rely on automatic machines and systems. The human workforce will be moved to new industrial sectors where new product prototypes are being designed or IT systems are being managed. Automation is now fundamental to business success. One of the most important elements of an automatic factory will be machine learning and artificial intelligence. In theory, AI will not only alert a human in the event of a manufacturing failure but also correct it, too.
The business partnership between ABB and Northvolt will bring an opportunity to create new innovative products around energy storage systems and robotics systems dedicated for this kind of industry. As ABB is able to offer a range of modular products that can improve the reliability and efficiency of the entire grid system. Based on comprehensive know how on storage media, ABB and Northvolt can design and then produce the most optimized batteries for industry needs.
The intelligent factory is a natural outgrowth of the digital convergence already under way between information technology and operational technology. The digital factory uses data analytics, IoT connectivity and machine learning to adjust and control all aspects of operations almost in real-time with a full automation, across each plant and supply chain. Operating as a self-managing system and a hub of machine-human collaboration, an intelligent factory emphasizes cooperative activities among humans, robots and production systems throughout the manufacturing system. The factory of tomorrow will look like an integrated hardware and software system fueled by a huge amount of information moderated by analytical systems. Artificial intelligence and deep learning modules will play a significant role in an intelligent plant delivering detailed, accurate and meaningful digital models for financial analysis.
Transforming into an automated and intelligent factory is neither an easy nor quick process but it is worth every resource applied to it. Systems have to be set up to communicate across the enterprise and exchange data seamlessly in almost real time. However whatever their path of implementation each manufacturer will have a rich collection of IoT solutions offering more and more benefits to their business and business partners.
[1]https://www.kantaremnid.de/studien/pdf/pwc-digital-factories-2020-shaping-the-future-of-manufacturing.pdf
Written by Lukasz Kudlak
