Internet of Things set to Disrupt and Revolutionise Manufacturing
The disruptive power of Forcam’s Smart Factory technology so impressed US
company growth consultants Frost and Sullivan that they have awarded it
their ‘New Product Innovation Leadership Award’ for 2014. World-wide, Forcam
is a leader in the application of the Internet of things (IoT) in shop-floor
applications. More than 50,000 machine tools and processes are under the
control of its Factory Framework shop floor manufacturing execution system
(MES) software.
“We are all aware of the Internet of things (IoT). The discussion so far has
centred on smart homes, intelligent cars, building management and systems
that can monitor our fitness and health, but the major breakthrough is in
manufacturing. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication will allow UK
manufacturers to improve productivity, quality and the pace of innovation to
become leaders in the new industrial revolution,” explained Charlie Walker,
Forcam’s UK manager.
The latest Factory Framework innovation, Release 5, gathers and presents
relevant and customised options, in real time, to mangers, supervisors and
shop floor technicians. This requires masses of data and huge computing
power so the software embraces big data, using complex event processing,
in-memory technology and the power of the cloud to gather and process this
information.
Forcam CEO, Franz Gruber explained, “This is not just a management tool, but
a system and a philosophy that the whole team – workers, supervisors and
managers – can use to create more productive, competitive and profitable
enterprises. Given globalisation of manufacturing this has a crucial role
for the viability of factories in advanced economies.”
Weir Minerals is one of the first UK companies to adopt Factory Framework.
Their Todmorden factory recorded a 12 per cent improvement in output in the
first year and continues to see incremental improvement. Aerospace component
suppliers Hyde Group has also applied the system with beneficial outcomes.
Auto manufacturers Audi, BMW and Daimler, fastening specialist Hilti and
aero-engine maker MTU are all early adopters, some achieving efficiency
improvements of 20 per cent or more in the first year. All are using the
system within their continuous improvement programmes (CIP) to achieve still
higher year-on-year productivity, keeping them competitive against lower
cost overseas manufacturers.
The internet-of-things means far more than controlling the central heating
from your smart phone or your fridge re-ordering the tomatoes. Forcam UK is
working to ensure it will have a major beneficial effect on industry and
will bolster the revival of manufacturing in an advanced economy such as the
UK’s.
