Zhongshan, Guangdong - Data, Automation, Intelligent Manufacturing. About these concepts that are often confused by management, David Hunter, the new CEO of Zhongshan Shida Model Co., Ltd. explained: 'Intelligent manufacturing, in simple terms, is the harmony between man and machine. Automation is a small part of it. It's easy to over-automate, and that will lose flexibility.'
Star is a UK-based UK company with 288 employees. The company values flexibility and its main business includes rapid prototyping, tooling and small-scale injection molding.
Hunter joined the company in July and led a two-year plan called 'fully integrated intelligent manufacturing'. He prefers this term compared to Industry 4.0, fully integrated smart manufacturing connectable Everyone, from supplier to customer.
No matter which word is used, Shida’s example shows that a new generation of manufacturing processes is emerging in China. Traditionally China is a low-cost manufacturing country, but in the face of rising manufacturing costs, China is trying to replace the 'Made in China 2025' industrial upgrading strategy. The original manufacturing model. Hunter said: 'Our goal is to have fully automated, fully networked plants by August 2020, including machines and machines, machines and people. Customers can view their project progress at any time. Suppliers can also enter the system and be automatically replenished by the system driver. '
At present, his work focuses on streamlining the internal processes of the factory. He said: 'We are connecting equipment and servers and systems, so we can real-time receiver data, no manual filling and inspection, all data can come directly from the machine . '
The focus is on collecting data, 'including machine parameters, temperature, pressure, operating cycle, tooling, etc., used in the production workshop. 'Hunter worked at Flextronics Zhuhai Printing Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. before joining Shida. the company.
According to Hunter, the manufacturing process is actually dominated by engineers and operators. What management needs to do is to make operations easier and more successful. Many companies can generate thousands of megabytes of data, but cannot understand the essence behind the data. '
After streamlining the internal processes, Hunter plans to lead the company into AR, artificial intelligence and machine learning. He said: 'With AR (including special glasses and iPad), we can train employees to operate the machine without using the machine.
There is a quality control trial application project in progress, using cameras to locate defective products, he said: 'Of course you must train equipment first, but this can be continuously improved and continuous learning.'
New technology
For plastics manufacturers, the bottleneck often encountered is that the parameters must be manually set after the mold is installed. Hunter hopes to straighten out this cumbersome process by installing a near field communication chip (NFC) or radio frequency tag (RFID) to automatically set the parameters. .
Star is still working on blockchain technology. Hunter said: 'These things are simple to manage, just think about the problem from a different perspective.'
British engineer Gordon Styles is currently the president and chief technology officer of Zhongshan Shida. He founded the company in 2005, then called Shida Mould Manufacturing Co., Ltd. His goal is to combine the rapid mold manufacturing and tooling configuration capabilities in the West with China. The combination of low cost and technical expertise.
He is a veteran of the mold industry. He founded Styles RPD in the UK in 1993 and sold it in 2000. Shida Mould moved to its current factory in 2009. By 2014, sales reached $14 million. Existing customers More than 1,000, the largest market in the US and Europe. The company produces various parts for the end market, such as automotive, medical and industrial, wearable areas, sensor-mounted prostheses (learning the wearer's body movements), etc. Involved.
Two years ago, the company was renamed Shida to reflect its expanded business, currently involving CNC machine tools, die-casting molds, vacuum molds, metal addition manufacturing and finishing services.
Last year, the company acquired a manufacturing company, which caused the company's revenue to jump nearly 40%. This year, the company's revenue is expected to increase by 15%, and the growth rate will be even greater in the next few years, because the artificial intelligence manufacturing plan will be put into use. The company also plans to increase The number of injection molding machines, the company currently has 10 Haitian and BabyPlast machine tools. Hunter said: ''Injection' is our fastest growing business.'
New language
Hunter puts predictive analysis, FMFA (failure mode performance analysis), PFMEA (program failure mode performance analysis) often. He said: 'Artificial intelligence uses intelligent data, machine learning, automation, virtual reality thinking and predictive analysis, etc. The entire enterprise drives behavior, which is linked to lean manufacturing because it virtually eliminates waste.'
He gave a simple example: Eliminate the steps of drilling holes in plastic boxes. 'Now, when we mold, we make semi-finished products, package them, and then enter the rig. So why do we have to re-process it? Why do you want to make it artificial? What about mobile products? I hope that the rig can be operated directly on the injection molding machine. '
Another example is that the company hopes that the future plant can be optimized and the railcar will run automatically: 'We will not need workers to drive the forklift, and no workers are required to pile the pallets.'
Hunter expects that after the intelligent manufacturing system is fully operational, revenue will increase by 50% in the next few years, but he predicts that the number of employees will continue to be stable. He said: 'At present, we are only beginning to lay the foundation for future expansion, intelligent manufacturing. One of the advantages is that it doesn't require too many operators, but it requires top engineers, which will change our culture and change our recruitment strategy.'
Plastic processing companies often complain about recruitment difficulties, and it is difficult for operators to stay, but Hunter believes that smart manufacturing will attract talent. He said: 'We recruit engineers, data scientists, statisticians, etc., and also train operators to upgrade workers to technicians or Engineer. '
The company is considering expansion but wants to stay in Zhongshan. He said: 'The product life is shorter than ever before. Our suppliers are within 30 to 45 minutes drive from us, which means we can guarantee the vitality of our business.'
He said that China is advancing Industry 4.0 technology to remain competitive. 'We hope to remain at the forefront of manufacturing and maintain a long-term and short-term competitive advantage. With China manufacturing 2025, more people are beginning to embrace this concept.'
He believes that China and developed countries have the same understanding of Industry 4.0. He said: 'In the West, if there is no smart manufacturing, it can't compete. China has realized this.'