Expert Roundtable: The Present and Future of Automation Upgrades

Industrial upgrading and manufacturing transformation have become irresistible current trends. Among them, the automation, informatization and intelligent transformation of factories have been the focus of attention in recent years. However, the current transformation of the manufacturing industry mainly focuses on the automation upgrade of the production link and the integration of information technology. "Machine substitution" is only the initial stage. Only factories with intelligent equipment can realize autonomous decision-making step by step, and finally realize the real "Smart Factory". So, what is the progress of the "machine substitution" or automation upgrade that is still in progress? What problems still exist? What challenges are there in the next transformation and upgrading? How should companies respond? In this issue of "CEConline", the expert roundtable interviewed Li Xiaotao, vice president of Guangdong Intelligent Robot Research Institute, and Yun Jiyuan, senior consultant of Hejun Consulting, to analyze and discuss the automation upgrade of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.

Get out of the misunderstanding

"CEConline": Since 2013, China has become the world's largest consumer of industrial robots. Since 2015, the national level has also launched a policy to support the manufacturing industry. The top-level design of intelligent manufacturing transformation, China's manufacturing industry has also set off a wave of "machine substitution" or automation transformation and upgrading. According to your observation, after so many years of development, what is the current level of automation in China's manufacturing?

Li Xiaotao: The automation degree of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is still at a relatively low level. Product assembly, clothing and other industries, the degree of automation is still relatively low, still requires a lot of manpower. From a regional perspective, enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta have a relatively high degree of automation, while other regions are relatively low. There are also big differences between enterprises in the same region. Large enterprises have large investment and relatively good automation. Although small and medium-sized enterprises have a strong demand for automation, their investment capacity is limited, and the level of automation is much lower.

Yun Jiyuan: In terms of the overall level of automation, this topic may be a bit big. Due to different levels of industry development, different scales of industries or industrial chains, and even differences in the size of industry leaders, there will be large differences in the level of automation. For example, in the automotive and IC industries, the industry itself is mature, large in scale, long in industrial chain, and relatively high in overall automation. It is also the main scenario for robot applications, and there is not even a big gap in automation between enterprises and Chinese and foreign enterprises. In some industries, such as home appliances, the industry is very large, and the giants are very large, but more are small and medium-sized home appliance companies, the industry profit margin is average, and the degree of automation is uneven. Like the steel and metal smelting industries, which belong to the transformation and upgrading of old industries, automation, informatization and intelligence are the trends, and the potential space is relatively large. Another old industrial industry, textile, has a high degree of automation in the middle and upper reaches of the spinning and weaving lines, but the automation in the downstream to clothing, shoes and hats is not as high as that in the middle and upper reaches, and it is still labor-intensive, which is due to the industry attributes. In general, automation, digitization, and intelligence are being promoted and applied in various industries. Enterprises are trying to seize such opportunities to achieve their own competitiveness in terms of efficiency and cost. Except for those relatively mature industries such as automobiles, IC, Western medicine, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, etc., most of them are still groping.

CEConline: What misunderstandings do Chinese manufacturers have in terms of automation upgrades? How should companies avoid these misunderstandings or what potential risks need to be prevented in advance?

Li Xiaotao: The scope of automation upgrade is very wide, including processing, assembly, testing, packaging, logistics, etc. Under normal circumstances, the investment in machine replacement or automation upgrade is relatively large, which is the main risk . Enterprises should do a good job in the analysis of return on investment and quality cost, not necessarily pursuing all or unnecessary automation, but should spend money on the cutting edge, aiming at the bottleneck links that affect production, such as low efficiency, harsh environment, high work intensity, and high quality risk , carry out selective and phased automation upgrades.

In addition, there is a general problem of "heavy hard over soft". Enterprises' investment in "hard equipment" such as intelligent equipment is generally due to the pressure of the working environment, or for refined production. , improve product quality, etc. However, enterprises cannot ignore the construction of informatization, such as MES system, data acquisition system, etc. The introduction of these information systems sometimes produces more value than pure automation upgrades. In addition, after the degree of automation is improved, the quality requirements of workers and technical support/maintenance engineers are higher, and human resource reserves need to be prepared in advance. Otherwise, the automation facilities may not be used well, and it is difficult to achieve the expected results.

Yun Jiyuan: There are mainly two prominent misunderstandings. One is rashly thinking that automation, ERP and OA can solve the current problems of enterprises. Not only small and medium-sized enterprises, but also some large-scale enterprises, the organization, process and system of the enterprise itself are not perfect, or the organizational efficiency has not been a big problem, especially the relatively traditional enterprises, which suddenly develop by leaps and bounds, the organizational process will be Can't keep up, can't adapt. In addition, the enterprise has not had a good consideration of itself, and has not re-optimized and planned on the production side, has not promoted lean production, and has not even been in place in terms of personnel quality. Advanced equipment may often become a decoration.

The second is feeling good about yourself, refusing to change, not keeping up with the trend or going against the trend. It can be roughly divided into two categories. One is conservative, seeking stability and not willing to try new things. The other is to live more comfortably in the industry, out of inertial judgment, unwilling to invest in this area.

In terms of risk prevention, it is still necessary to keep up with industry trends. The first is to live within our means and objectively evaluate our own financial strength. After all, automation transformation requires a lot of investment, and the cycle is long, so we need to consider whether we can stick to it. Talent reserve and training, whether there are talents to support this change. To be able to gain insight into the industry, especially the market space and market acceptance, this is the most difficult and crucial point. That is, if more advanced technology is adopted, the cost will definitely change. It is necessary to consider the acceptance of customers and whether the product has been replaced or cross-border. The possibility of subversion, etc., need to be considered. The second is to have a plan, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, not the most advanced, but the application, which can be transformed in stages and steps. The third is to cooperate with each other in enterprise alliances, and customers, suppliers and themselves should work together to find ways and set topics.

CEConline: What are the main problems of those companies that have implemented automation upgrades? How should companies meet the next challenges?

Li Xiaotao: The flexibility and operational reliability of automation facilities are more realistic issues. If an enterprise always manufactures certain types of products stably, automation is relatively easy to achieve, but if the products of the enterprise change frequently, it is a difficult problem whether the automation facilities can efficiently cope with product switching; in addition, the higher the degree of automation, the more likely the failure The greater the impact, the higher the reliability requirements. Enterprises should be equipped with high-quality equipment maintenance personnel to ensure reliable equipment operation. Enterprises often attach importance to the construction of production line automation and ignore the construction of logistics and warehousing automation.

The higher the degree of automation of the equipment, the more attention should be paid to the data collection and application of the equipment; one is to analyze the efficiency of the equipment and find production bottlenecks; the other is to analyze the status of the equipment, do preventive maintenance, and reduce equipment downtime Risk, the third is to analyze product quality to ensure that the equipment is kept in an optimal operating state; all of this is inseparable from the application of industrial big data-related technologies and platforms. The Guangzhiyun industrial big data platform developed by the Guangdong Institute of Intelligent Robots has helped many companies solve similar problems.

Yun Jiyuan: Cost is the main problem faced by enterprises. In the short term, the cost of enterprises must be high or not low. Equipment, personnel, suppliers, software, etc. are all new expenses. That is to say, under the premise that the industrial attributes and industrial models have not changed or been subverted, our goal is the stock market instead of incremental, and the first thing to do is to settle accounts.

Another serious problem is the network security of the Industrial Internet. The networking of intelligent equipment must be done. According to public data, 53.1% of enterprises in my country have encountered security problems such as computer blue screen, restart, and security failure of production equipment. The damage caused by industrial Internet network security can be much greater than that of consumer networks. Especially those with global monopoly like the core component controller in the robot, it must be catastrophic to be attacked. Moreover, to solve this problem, enterprises have to cooperate with upstream and downstream customer suppliers, third-party service agencies, industrial planning consulting, and funding parties such as industrial funds. Led by the core enterprise, it is easier to achieve success than the enterprise alone.

The road ahead

CEConline: What changes have the current automation upgrades brought to the production of enterprises? The specific reaction is in terms of operation. At present, as a whole, can the role of automation upgrade bring tangible and obvious changes to the operation of the enterprise?

Li Xiaotao: The most obvious change is that the demand for workers in the manufacturing workshop has been reduced, and many heavy and repetitive tasks can be handed over to machines to complete the production efficiency and product quality consistency. The automation upgrade has effectively solved the labor problems faced by enterprises. In addition, the popularization of automation also puts forward more requirements for enterprise informatization construction. Because there are fewer people on the production site, production scheduling and status monitoring need to be automatically completed by the information system, otherwise it will become a new bottleneck.

The effect of automation upgrade to different manufacturing enterprises is different. Generally speaking, if the product has a high degree of standardization and a certain production batch, the effect of automation upgrade is still good. Of course, the specific effect is also Depends on the production bottleneck analysis and ROI analysis carried out in advance by the enterprise.

At the same time, the upgrade of automation also puts forward certain requirements for the equipment management capabilities of enterprises. If the maintenance of the equipment is in place and the utilization rate of the equipment is high, it will definitely bring better operating benefits. However, many enterprises often do not have good equipment management capabilities, equipment failures occur frequently, equipment utilization is not high, and it is difficult to obtain expected benefits.

Yun Jiyuan: First of all, the most obvious is the change in labor. Some special types of work, such as painting, welding, and grinding, which can cause occupational diseases, such as forging and die-casting, are difficult to endure, and most people are reluctant to do them. These industries are relatively successful in application, helping enterprises to solve the problem of labor recruitment, and at the same time Improve efficiency and quality stability. From the perspective of labor force, reduce the potential harm of occupational diseases to workers. Secondly, with the help of visualization and data analysis, the emergence of intelligent devices that can capture data, reduce the workload of managers and provide a basis for judgment of analysis problems. From the perspective of managers, the burden of daily analysis and decision-making is reduced, and more time can be spent on higher-level planning and organization. Furthermore, as far as the product itself is concerned, automation and digital applications make production more controllable and product consistency higher.

The change in the specific operation is more prominent in that the requirements for people have increased. In the past, it may be mainly "passive labor" workers, but now more skilled talents such as "active planning" engineers are needed. . In terms of business ideas, it may lead to changes in the management model. After all, management workers and management engineers are still different.

CEConline: There are many small and medium-sized manufacturers in China. If they want to upgrade automation, what difficulties do you think they will face? How to get started or any advice? What should they make as their primary goal for automation upgrades?

Li Xiaotao: Funding, technology, and personnel may all be difficult points. The capital problem is mainly due to the large investment, and the technical problem includes several aspects. First, it is necessary to evaluate which links are most suitable for automation upgrades, and the expected return is the highest; the second is how to select suitable suppliers and The third is to have an overall plan, and to carry out automation upgrades, informatization construction, and implementation of lean production management simultaneously. There are also several problems with people. First, the quality requirements of people are different. Second, after automation, new management strategies are needed on the production site.

The automation upgrade of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises should be carried out step by step and carried out in stages. First, carry out automation transformation for the most urgent links, and spend the money on the edge. For example: processes with harsh environment, heavy work and high quality requirements.

Yunjiyuan: First, focus on implementation rather than planning, willing to buy tangible equipment and software but unwilling to invest in intangible pre-intelligence planning; second, the support of funds and talents; third, automation in each department , Insufficient Unicom, no synergy is formed, and the effect is affected.

The first suggestion is that in planning, the professional team should comprehensively plan from the perspective of the industry or enterprise, and calculate the accounts clearly, not only the financial accounts-cost issues, but also the market accounts. For example, the old products of an enterprise are very stable, with 80% of the profit, and the profit contribution of new products is almost zero, but the market prospect is very good and the potential is great, so which product to invest in should be carefully analyzed. In addition, when planning, don’t make decisions on a whim, and don’t be led by software companies or hardware companies, or kidnapped by automated equipment. It depends on whether your product is applicable and whether customers accept it. The second is to choose the right suppliers and partners. For example, there are many tools that help enterprises implement transformation, such as RPA (Robot Process Automation) and IA (Intelligent Automation), which are called by some institutions. Implement transformation. The third is talent training and introduction. It is the most difficult to operate automated equipment, because sometimes this cannot be solved by spending money. The fourth is to do a good job of making detailed insights into industry trends externally, and to start rationalizing and optimizing organizational processes internally, which is also called process reengineering.

"CEConline": What are the new development trends of automation upgrading of Chinese enterprises in the future?

Li Xiaotao: There are several points worth paying attention to: First, the requirements for flexible automation are higher, that is to say, when products and processes are changed, automation facilities can also calmly respond; Second, automation and informatization The third is the in-depth application of artificial intelligence and industrial big data to improve the intelligence of equipment. At present, most automation equipment is not intelligent, and works completely according to the program preset by humans, lacking the ability to adapt to changes. And learning to improve the ability, the future automation facilities should be able to perceive the production environment, learn independently, continuously optimize, and the equipment can execute autonomously.

Yun Jiyuan: There are three main trends, the first is the socialization of talent training. Both college training and socialized vocational education will develop rapidly, and socialized vocational education is more targeted. Compared with undergraduate general education and postgraduate and doctoral research-oriented professional education, it just fills a gap. , Practical engineers and experts are more run-in by enterprises and vocational education institutions. In addition, the upgrading of the original labor force requires the cultivation of new skills. The training of these talents is more handed over to socialized vocational education to implement.

The second is the enterprise alliance. China's existing mechanism is unlikely to produce joint research institutions like Fraunhofer in Germany. But perhaps the leaders and practitioners of such industries as Siemens and GM can be born. However, China also has a Chinese way. The categories of China's national economy are very complete. In addition to the opening, exploration and cooperation in recent years, there are still conditions and foundations to form an enterprise alliance, so that core enterprises, that is, enterprises with innate advantages in terms of policies and credit, can be formed. , through these core enterprises to organize upstream and downstream, third-party service agencies, industrial funds, etc. to cooperate, focusing on the industry, focusing on a certain field can still be done.

The third is in terms of technology. Industrial robots have obvious trends of light weight, flexibility and intelligence, and are smaller, lighter and more flexible; human-robot collaboration is becoming an important direction for the development and application of industrial robots. Rather than simply replacing handling and welding work.

Host / Mu Ye Figure / Li Xiaotao, Yun Jiyuan