January 2021

26 n MANUFACTURING January 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com What will SME manufacturing look like post-Covid? I t is poignant to recall that at the time the world went into meltdown, much of industry was still riding the Industry 4.0 wave and looking forward to following a journey towards digitalisation and smart manufacturing. The global pandemic certainly put the brakes on that, but what will happen when we emerge on the other side of this crisis? What this experience has shown us is that businesses that had already adopted automation – or, by their nature, were digital operations, such as online retailers – have adapted more quickly and, in some cases, have enjoyed a boom time. In contrast, many traditional manufacturing companies are struggling to return to anything like pre-Covid production levels because of many factors, not least of which is the need to observe social distancing requirements for staff on their production lines and associated processes. Could it be then, that rather than being industry’s nemesis, Covid-19 may prove to be the catalyst that stimulates manufacturing to forge ahead with digital transformation post- pandemic? Perhaps, in the past, talk of smart manufacturing and the digitalisation of manufacturing was interpreted by some as applying only to large manufacturers and enterprises. To accept that argument would be to deny SMEs the chance to enjoy the benefits of adopting automation and a level of “smartness”that is appropriate for their businesses. It is important to consider the manufacturing process as a whole and analyse areas where the adoption of automation would have the greatest impact. Labour- intensive areas have always been a target for automation and with today’s technologies the options are wide and scalable. For example, adopting robots in assembly, product-sorting or machine-tending offers many advantages over the manual alternative. Robots now include the option of collaborative operation if the robot needs to interact with an operator. Depending on the application, a co-operative systemwhere an operator is allowed to enter safely into the working area of a robot, which either slows down or halts its operation until safe to resume, could well be the best approach. A wise investment For SMEs to invest in automation, there needs to be a relatively short ROI, which is even more relevant in these times when any investment comes under intense scrutiny. This can only be realised by considering what the SME is trying to achieve. Once a clear vision is established, a scheduled plan can be developed, focussing initially on quick wins. Every manufacturing operation has pinch points or bottlenecks and often these offer the quick-win opportunities, where a reasonable level of investment can return significant benefits. This approach has two key benefits: an immediate effect on the efficiency of the manufacturing process; and, additionally, helping to convince the people holding budgets that investing in automation is the right thing to do. Automation can be applied in a staged approach, as long as the end-goal is understood by all parties. The scale of the implementation can also be matched to the size of the enterprise and available budget. Of course, to make an operation“smart”, you need to collect, collate, aggregate and analyse the information about the process fromwhat is actually happening in the manufacturing plant. This might feel like another giant leap for many SMEs, but again with the right approach it can be targeted and scaled to suit varying business requirements. Today’s automation technology has a host of built-in diagnostic and predictive maintenance functions, all waiting to be collected and analysed. What is done with that data can be as simple as visualising it on a local operator panel with associated alarms, to passing it through a data-collection layer and linking it to business systems at the top of the enterprise and to all points in between. With the advent of intelligent process controllers and edge computing technologies, it is possible to perform detailed analyses and even apply AI (artificial intelligence) at the OT layer to minimise the data traffic that is sent to the IT end of the business. Edge technology also offers the ability to react in real time to process anomalies and changes at plant level. As we start to discern the possibility of a new normal emerging in the post- Covid era, Chris Evans, marketing and operations group manager at Mitsubishi Electric UK, looks at how the pandemic could affect the future adoption of automation by SME manufacturers.