Smart factory solutions
Smart factories are IR 4.0 production facilities where machinery and equipment are interconnected, enabling the facilities to send and receive data on a real-time basis. Smart factories automate the electronics and semiconductor manufacturing process as well as all other processes in the production facility, from the receipt of raw materials and supplies to the production and assembly of end-products, minimizing the need or human intervention. The status of the production facility’s machinery, equipment and processes can be monitored and controlled in the facility’s primary control and command centre.
Our smart factory solutions enable the remote management and monitoring of production processes, and management of materials and finished products to, from and within production facilities. Our solutions comprise:-
(i) Modular solutions, targeting certain processes and systems depending on the required functionalities and costs; and
(ii) Integration of such solutions with the customer’s existing production line system, manufacturing execution system (“MES”), materials requirements planning (“MRP”) system and/or enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) software.
The duration to implement smart factory solutions for our customers from the initial design stages to the final buy-off may range between 6 months to 2 years, depending on the complexity and number of modular solutions required. Modular solutions will typically take less than 1 year to complete while the integration of multiple modular solutions may take up 2 years to complete.
Our key solutions offered under our smart factory solutions are set out as follows:-
| No. | Key solutions | Description |
| 1. | Production planning and scheduling solution | This solution allows production orders to be planned and scheduled on a real-time basis. This ensures that machinery utilization is optimized with the highest overall equipment effectiveness (“OEE”). |
| 2. | Automated storage system for parts preparation | This solution allows information regarding production operations to be monitored and tracked on a real-time basis. This information, includes, but not limited to, quality, production yield, OEE and production volume. |
| 3. | Automated storage system for parts replenishment | This automated storage system signals for materials to be supplied automatically on an on-demand basis by the production line system. This ensures that all machinery and equipment involved in the production line systems are running without stoppages due to the delay in parts replenishment |
| 4. | Production planning and scheduling solution | This solution allows production orders to be planned and scheduled on a real-time basis. This ensures that machinery utilization is optimized with the highest overall equipment effectiveness (“OEE”). |
| 5. | Production monitoring solution | This solution allows information regarding production operations to be monitored and tracked on a real-time basis. This information, includes, but not limited to, quality, production yield, OEE and production volume. |
| 6. | Command and control centre (“C&C centre”) | The C&C centre is where all the monitoring of production activities are carried out. All data and information for the production facility are automatically recorded, stored, and analysed in the C&C Centre. These data and information allow for remote supervision and status control of the electronics and semiconductor manufacturing solutions, as well as production management. |
Our smart factory solutions allow businesses to automate their production facility processes, therefore enabling:
- Optimised equipment utilization as the solutions minimize setup time and the number of setups, improves operational efficiency and minimizes operational issues;
- Elimination of material management problems as the solutions allow for real-time and accurate tracking of material location, quantity and consumption, as well as integration with inventory management systems
- Real-time insight into production performance as the solutions reports on machine performance and downtime-Comprehensive traceability solutions on electronic components, processes and quality; and
- Reduced labour costs and human errors as minimal human intervention is required.