The role of the Automation Strategist in manufacturing

whitePaper | August 22, 2022

The coronavirus pandemic that unfolded in 2020 and which is still yet to be fully under control, has had dramatic impacts in every aspect of our daily lives, from the way we work to the way we interact socially and to how organizations are structured. Some of its impacts are yet to be fully grasped, as several new studies provide further evidence of significant changes, ranging from its impact on our health to the way we learn and to how companies have been required to redefine their work model.

whitePaper | November 12, 2022

Since the first Industrial Revolution, the manufacturing process has been revolutionised from water and steam-powered machines to electrical and automated ones. The term "Industry 4.0" or simply I4 was introduced by the German government in 2011, which encourages the use of modern technology in the manufacturing process. It defines that automation technology can be improved by offering different methods of self-configuration, self-optimisation and self-diagnosis. The fourth era of revolution (Industry 4.0) is all about connectivity trends, advanced material, processing technology, service orientation and collaboration in advanced manufacturing networks. It presents a unique level of control and coordination over the whole value chain of the products. Internet of things (IoT) and machine to machine communication (M2M) are merged to improve communication and automation. It creates a new set of design principles for effective and computerised control of the manufacturing process which includes

whitePaper | June 2, 2022

For decades, energy-intensive commodity businesses for paper and packaging aimed for better process control, leading to higher product quality with less energy consumption. This would help to both reduce costs and maintain a healthier environment. A plethora of concepts and devices were invented to control the production and verify or predict the product quality. This approach had some measure of success, but it had its limits.

whitePaper | June 3, 2022

Digital operations are key to maintaining a competitive edge, but most organizations today operate with a mix of different levels of automation, from completely automated to fully manual processes. This variation across the value chain impacts efficiency and customer satisfaction, since an end-to-end process may move through several disjointed manual and semi-automated tasks to reach completion. Moving to a fully digital operation with end-to-end intelligent automation can significantly improve existing business operations, while enabling true transformation: the creation of completely new business models that allow an organization to outperform the competition and expand into new markets.

whitePaper | December 13, 2019

Winsun has a 3D construction printer installed in their factory in Suzhou, China, that produces elements by 3D printing. The elements are then transported to and assembled at the building site to form the building structure. Hence, Winsun is actually 3D printing precast elements and do not 3D print on the building site. Therefore, when Winsun claimed to have done 10 buildings in 10 days, it actually meant, that they assembled 10 buildings in 10 days, out of elements 3D printed in the factory long before.

whitePaper | March 17, 2022

Manufacturing industry professionals must corral and understand massive amounts of data from many systems to drive operational efficiencies, higher levels of service, supply chain resiliency, and ultimately a complete view of the business. Having the ability to explore the impact of and interplay among changes in production efficiency, product quality, customer demand, and service excellence isn’t possible without visibility into data and meaningful data analytics. This “big data” approach to manufacturing operations and supply chain optimization can deliver big results and is at the heart of the digital transformation initiatives of many industrial companies.