IoT Data Can Help Boost Manufacturing Productivity, Expert Says

Plant floor data can help manufacturers improve product quality, reduce machine downtime and boost productivity, an expert told attendees at the recent Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show.

Saeed Kazi, an automotive solutions executive for IBM Watson Internet of Things, said that the beauty of data is that it can help improve products, even after they leave the manufacturing facility. “There’s a more digital way to do manufacturing today,” he told Design News. “Using the IoT and analytics, you can capture data, keep your machines running and get a better yield.”

In a talk titled, “Moving to a Smarter Manufacturing Environment,” Kazi used the auto industry as a state-of-the-art example, saying that vehicle manufacturing lends itself to digital manufacturing, largely because warranty costs have become so critical to its bottom line. Automotive door assemblies serve as a good example of smart manufacturing’s benefits, he said, because data from the build process can be easily captured and tied to vehicle identification numbers to create a history. If door assemblies begin failing, engineers can comb through the history to look for causes and solutions.

“The engineers can go back to the information, identify what’s happening, and then put changes into the manufacturing process to fix the problem,” he said. “That way, the next set of vehicles that go out are not impacted.”

Kazi said that automakers in Germany and Japan are using the digital process in some plants. In the U.S., Ford and General Motors have also adopted digital techniques on a limited basis.

Due to the costs of outfitting factories for digital manufacturing, however, most manufacturers are treading lightly, he said. “They’re doing it in spurts,” he told us. “They’re experimenting with it in cells. They’re not yet taking it to the level they want to reach.”

Kazi added that health and medical technology manufacturers are good candidates for digital manufacturing. Some aerospace companies are also taking a hard look at the technology. “If you’re doing repetitive manufacturing, discrete manufacturing, then you need to consider this,” he said.

The bottom line, he said, is that many manufacturers already understand the benefits. Some are already in the early stages of implementation and are planning to expand their smart manufacturing efforts over the next five years. “It’s their vision,” Kazi said. “They see the value in it. It’s just a matter of seeing the results first, and then expanding on it.”

Senior technical editor Chuck Murray has been writing about technology for 33 years. He joined Design News in 1987, and has covered electronics, automation, fluid power, and autos.

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