The Automated Factory during Times of Crisis

The Automated Factory during Times of Crisis

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If you are old enough to read this, you will remember this time in our lives forever…it will also be written into history for those too young to remember and those that follow. Not one of us could imagine this world, where life suddenly came to a screeching halt. We all shake our heads in disbelief that just a few short weeks ago our economy was on the rise, in some of the best times ever, and we saw our futures expanding before our very eyes. Then one day…it all just stopped. Our governments issued stay-at-home orders, essentially shutting down our world. The COVID-19 virus had become a global pandemic, which changed everything for us.

In times of uncertainty and crisis, our primal human needs take hold. When disasters strike, we seek our basic needs – shelter, food, water, and safety. These are the essentials, and they are our highest priorities for survival.

One might ask, “What is the correlation between global catastrophe and automated factories?” The commonality is that we are a part of the front line as well. Our abilities to manufacture goods, helps to provide the essential items which keep our lives and world moving forward.

War, environmental disaster, and disease outbreak, are some examples of crises that have the ability to change the landscape of our world economy. With items such as medical supplies and food (including packaging) high on our list of essential items during a crisis, how does automation help to keep those supply chains flowing?

What happens when people cannot get to work, or are allowed to go to work? Although other aspects of our world may be shutting down, it is paramount that we ensure our manufacturing lines do not. At the very least, our goal should be to minimize the impact of any potential disruptions. How do we keep our factories running with limited human intervention? Is it possible?

Is there a Solution?

Yes, in many instances we can continue to run our factories and limit the amount of dependence on human interaction. Now, I understand that this is a touchy subject for some. The discussion of automated manufacturing may conjure images of lost jobs. Although that may be true to some respect, automation has also been responsible for creating many jobs. Automation has also been instrumental in moving people away from hazardous manufacturing processes.

Robots and automation can also allow those in higher-cost countries the ability to better compete with those in lower-cost countries. This ultimately helps to retain manufacturing jobs. If company A without automation isn’t able to compete with company B that is automated, or company C that has a low labor rate, company A risks not being able to stay in business. What does that mean for all of those employees?

For years automation suppliers have promoted the benefits that they are able to bring to the manufacturing process. Increased production output, cycle consistency and better part quality are just some of the ways that automation can help manufacturers compete and thrive. Reduced direct labor on the manufacturing lines is another potential benefit.

The Lights-Out Factory

What is the reality of all of this and how does it work? Let’s look at the concept of a “lights-out” factory. The idea of lights-out manufacturing is a factory that can be left unattended for some duration of time, without affecting output. That amount of time is the variable that we need to better understand. Can an operation be left unattended for a shift? Can it be left unattended overnight, or over the weekend? Can it go without operator intervention even longer?

In order to figure it out, we need to look at a number of different items. First, we need to evaluate the entire manufacturing process. We need to consider how raw and finished materials flow through the cell. Since I primarily work with automation in the plastics injection molding industry, we will use that for our examples. However, many of the same principles and concepts will apply to other types of manufacturing industries.

Automating an Injection Molding Line

The primary raw material that we think of in an injection molding process is the plastic. This is typically supplied in the form of pellets. How do we keep that supply coming and for how long? Material comes from the supplier in bags, Gaylords, trucks and rail cars. Many times for larger operations, material is then loaded into silos, which allows them to run for long lengths of time before needing to replenish their supply. How long the material can be fed without replenishment depends on the machine cycle time and shot size. Each operation will have to consider the best ways to store the bulk material.

From bulk, the material can then be automatically fed to the injection molding machine (IMM) with the use of vacuum loaders, or other forms of material handling equipment. Many molders are already implementing this step in their process. Of course there are other considerations related to the plastic material, such as drying and mixing, but these steps can be automated relatively easily as well.

Now let’s look at the molding process and the extraction of the parts from the machine. The injection molding machine itself, automates the process from the infeed of the raw plastics, to the finished parts. Once the parts have been molded, what are the next steps in the process?

For many years, molders have been incorporating parts handling robots into their cells. These allow the automatic extraction of the parts from the IMM. Parts are then moved further downstream for the next steps in the process. For many, it is simply placing the parts on a conveyor and letting an operator inspect and provide the final pack-out. In my opinion, here is where we define the most critical steps in determining how feasible it will be to move towards a lights-out factory.

Basic Example

Let’s take the basic scenario of a dedicated mold, producing parts that are bulk packed into boxes, palletized and shipped. First we need to consider any quality control measures for the molding process. Many molding machine are capable of monitoring the process and sending alerts if any parameters fall outside of defined quality windows. If variations in the process are detected, the IMM will send a defective product signal to the parts handling robot. The robot is then able to separate the rejected parts from the good product workflow. We can also incorporate vision systems, to look for a variety of defects in the finished molded parts.

At this point, again we need to evaluate how other materials are fed into the system. In this case, we need to consider the boxes. Will the boxes need to be erected? Will labels need to be applied, which would constitute another material? In all of these scenarios, automation can be utilized.

We can use automatic box erectors and conveying systems. The labels can also be automatically applied. These are all relatively common operations in our industry, which we see automation used for.

Once the box packing phase is completed, we need to get those boxes onto pallets. Will the pallet then need to be banded or shrink wrapped? Will the full pallet need some type of label, or other coding? How many empty and full pallets can we reasonably manage? Again, these are all things that can happen with automation. The big question is how feasible this all is.

I believe that the majority of processes in a factory can be automated, but at what cost and time to implement? These are always the big questions when it comes to automation…budget and time! Also, we have been using the basic example of a dedicated mold. Many custom molders, as well as proprietary shops, run a variety of molds in any one machine. How do we handle this? There are automatic mold change systems, but these add to the growing lists of costs and complexities to consider. As we look at each step in the process, we can see that many more questions can arise. It is important to step back and look at the picture, but also delve down into the details of every step in the sequence. 

Industry 4.0

By now, many have heard the term Industry 4.0, but what does that mean in terms of lights-out manufacturing? Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) have pushed the realms of how our machines communicate and work together. Machines and computers can seamlessly be integrated to help provide data, the likes of which have never been seen before. The machines themselves, can look for abnormalities in the hardware and process settings and make automatic adjustments to alleviate any deviations in the finished parts.

Machines and work cells are able to run self-analysis to determine if and when maintenance will be required. As the equipment infers potential issues on the horizon, they (the machines) can pre-order the required components and hardware. With all of this compiled data, material demand and restocking can happen automatically. This information can even be sent directly to raw material suppliers in order to automatically schedule shipments and replenish stock.

Much of what we once had to do in person, can now be accomplished remotely. From our homes (or wherever we are), we are able to monitor our work-cells and adjust processing parameters as needed. The equipment manufacturers are able to remotely connect to the equipment for diagnostics and troubleshooting assistance, anytime of the day or night. These are all realities in our manufacturing world today.

In Conclusion

Now I am sure that there are many reading this that say this sounds well and good, but my company is in no position to implement all of the automation required to achieve this. Maybe for many, lights-out manufacturing shouldn’t be the ultimate goal. Maybe we should strive to find a happy medium. I believe that we need to do what we can, within the means of our organizations, to minimize the impact of a potentially reduced workforce. If we can extend the duration of time that our manufacturing lines can produce in times of crisis, this helps not only our companies, but our overall economy and well-being.

Although this is not something that happens overnight, it is something for us to contemplate. We need to look at our short-term and long-term goals and the steps required to reach them. We need to consider how shutdowns in our daily lives might affect our world and how we can plan to continue to operate through them. Having worked in automated manufacturing for over 25 years, I am very proud and excited at all of the amazing developments happening around us. There are so many incredible people and companies around the globe, who continue to help to advance manufacturing.

In the end, human intervention will be required at some point. And as a human, I am grateful for that. We don’t want to eliminate the need for people in manufacturing. It is the way we utilize automation that we can minimize the impact when different crises hits. If we can keep plants running longer, more efficiently, and when required, with less human interaction, we will be able to better weather the storms of uncertainty in the world.

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