Automation just got smarter

According to intelligent automation and software specialists, Plataine, a game-changing AI layer on top of a manufacturing execution system can reduce composites manufacturing operational costs by up to 15%.

 

The aerospace composite manufacturing industry is in the midst of digital transformation. You could say that not so long ago, reams of binders ruled the average shopfloor. Paper was used to capture manufacturing data, handle resource management, scheduling, capacity planning, and manage operations.

The introduction of digitalisation started with simple excel files and then with manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) thus, beginning the paradigm shift from paper to paperless management.

MES and manufacturing ERP systems defined the paperless transition of the last two decades. These disruptive technologies were used to collate and aggregate manufacturing data to streamline manufacturing processes. MES solved and still solves crucial challenges such as managing complex data and taking advantage of data analytics.

Managing materials with shorter shelf-lives is a key challenge
Managing materials with shorter shelf-lives is a key challenge

But, nonetheless, these systems were initially built for another era and to be honest did not manage to completely eliminate the paperwork. We witness a lot of paper documentation that travels together with work orders or inventory transactions.

Today, the aerospace composites industry’s challenges have changed, and technology capacities have evolved tremendously. Fluctuating demand, disrupted supply chains, a Covid-19 world, hyper-competitive landscape, dropping margins, talent shortage, workforce deficiencies, managing materials with shorter shelf-lives, are just to name a few challenges.

On the other hand, Industry 4.0 technology evolved to offer extremely automated workflows, data-driven insights with specific recommendations, predictive analysis and more, based on artificial intelligence powered by mighty cloud computing. Traditional and legacy systems are missing these capabilities.

Proactive solutions

Traditional MES and ERP provide a solution that takes care of data collation and organisation. But is that enough in today’s era?

Industry 4.0 brought new levels of interconnectivity, smart automation of traditional manufacturing processes and predictability features. You can think of Industry 4.0 as the layer that turns software from being reactive into being proactive. Proactive Intelligence!

Four phases play important roles in the actualisation and application of Industry 4.0 – connecting interrelated processes, IoT based data collection, analysing aggregated data to extract patterns, and insights that include actionable recommendations based on accurate predictions. Pretty much like taking the knowledge and experience of masters in factory floor management and making it available to anyone in the organisation.

MES and ERP without AI and extreme automation capabilities means they lack the ability to respond to what really happens on your factory floor and have become one-dimensional legacy solutions in a multi-dimensional context where automating workflows and data-driven insights are essential to cost reduction and profit optimisation.

The value of an AI-based manufacturing optimisation solution is that it allows full visibility across the production line, delivering real-time tracking of material and assets. One of the key benefits has been a significant reduction in material waste due to automated management of time-sensitive composite materials. An AI solution can assign the most appropriate raw material for each job, taking into consideration exposure time and expirations dates, as well as remnant utilisation resulting in up to 15% material cost reduction.

Digital Assistants can alert about problems before they occur and recommend on steps to solve these issues before they disrupt production.

Back to business

The reopening of domestic and international travel routes has kick-started the aerospace industry’s recovery process. With the aerospace composites market expected to reach US$ 63.37 billion by 2027, there is certainly an incentive to find solutions that can push operations cost effectiveness up while reducing related risks.

Encouraging signs such as Airbus and Boeings projections of significant increase in output means suppliers including aerospace composite manufacturers must be prepared to meet this unprecedented increase in demand while compensate for pandemic-inspired losses.

These alarming signs highlight the limitations of MES and ERP systems and how they hinder your facility’s ability to handle the demands that come with the recovery period:

Levels of automation

Three levels of process automation exist. Upon arrival of composite materials at your facility, you either have to manually record the number of materials received in a ledger or excel sheet meaning there is no automation integrated into your operations. Or, you manually record the arrival data and input the data sets into a MES or ERP system then some automation occurs. And finally, you are requested by the system to increase the inventory, then you put the materials in storage and IoT sensors manage the recording and shipment update process while communicating updates about available inventory to workstations means that almost full automation is in place. When the system asks you to take out materials from the freezers and instructs you on what to do further in order to meet a goal of 100% autoclave throughput, then it’s even closer to 100% automation. You get the idea.

AI powered by mighty cloud computing!
AI powered by mighty cloud computing!

Traditional MES and ERP may already integrate with some IoT solutions, but at the base level, they are supported by manually inputting data, time-consuming tasks that lead to human error, and automation that relates to shelf life, material and tooling availability is limited.

AI capabilities

To respond effectively to a variety of challenges, manufacturers need data-driven insights based on patterns that lean on historical data, in order to make optimal decisions. “Should this task be performed in this station? Should I order more material? What % of my inventory is about to expire? What demand can I meet with a 50% workforce? Is this deadline at risk and if yes how to prevent faults?”

ERP and MES collect and manage the data; however, AI is a game changer as it focuses on production scheduling to speed up production cycles to meet deadlines as well as alert systems that reduce downtime and optimise productivity.

<Traceability and visibility>

Traditional MES and ERP rely on a lot of manually fed data. That means you are in charge of updating crucial information into your systems otherwise the picture is hardly complete. In this scenario, you are responsible for the accuracy of your systems by providing it with the information it needs instead of the other way around. Adding an AI layer on top of your MES will automate the provision of material expiry data, provide correlations between defects to their root cause, and create the asset’s full genealogy by correlating material to parts and automatically recalculating parts’ shelf-life.

Aerospace composites manufacturers were hit hard by Covid-19. They now have to work on recovery more than any other manufacturing industry. The key is cutting costs and increasing efficiency, as part of the current stage of recovery. 

In order to meet these goals, they need to upgrade their existing MES or ERP software to fully implement Industry 4.0 capabilities that are tailored to the Aerospace composites industry.

Many of them are already successfully harnessing AI and IoT layers and use them to gain a competitive edge and keep their pricing aggressively low while still being profitable. That’s the definition of a game-changing scene.

www.plataine.com

Company

Plataine

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