The factory of the future is about much more than robots. To remain globally competitive, Australian manufacturers must also adapt to a world where factories are connected and machines have self-learning capabilities.
Critical are sensors that connect devices and machines to the internet to monitor their condition and improve the performance of a production line, creating substantial cost savings. All coupled with vertical integration of the supply chain, fully automated manufacturing processes, connecting the shop floor to the board room and creating highly flexible production systems.
Just as over a century ago when it was at the forefront of electrifying cities and railways, ABB is today leading the way into the new era with a range of products and solutions under the name ABB Ability™. ABB Ability brings a number of ABB's digital products, solutions and services under one umbrella.
A number of ABB Ability offerings will be showcased in Melbourne this year on 15 March at ABB Customer World - Australia (ACW). This free, premier event brings together local and global professionals from across industries to see the latest industrial technology and digital solutions.
The new industrial revolution, the Fourth, enables extensive use of sensors and connects machines and robots to the internet. Sensors measure what is happening within and around a machine - for instance, temperature or vibration - and produce digital data, which are analysed by software, and then turned into information that manufacturers can apply in real time to improve and adapt their production processes.
The process of automation becomes smarter and more adaptable with the help of The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Dating back to the 1950s, automation can be found everywhere from robots on an assembly line for cars, to control systems in mines and offshore oil and gas platforms. Automation increases production, reduces waste and improves safety for workers.
Using digital technologies to change business models and create new value-producing opportunities is expected to create nearly one trillion dollars of customer value in the form of cost reductions and extra revenue across the markets in which ABB is active.
Management consultant McKinsey has quantified the economic value created by digitalisation across a broader market at between $4 trillion and $11 trillion annually by 2025. ABB estimates its addressable market at $20 billion in annual revenues by then.
Factory of tomorrow with ABB Ability™
ABB's factory in Heidelberg, Germany, which makes miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) shows what the factory of tomorrow looks like with ABB Ability™ and how it can make things faster and better.
The Heidelberg facility is equipped with seven types of ABB robots, all of which are connected to the industrial internet and monitored to ensure optimum performance. Since these connected robots were introduced, productivity has increased by three percent from already high levels and the assembly line is much more flexible. It can produce three times as much product variants than before.
The smart factory or factory of the future connects a number of dots in ABB's portfolio, including products and solutions of recently acquired companies, such as machine and factory automation leader, Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik GmbH (B&R).
ABB was instrumental in kick-starting the second and third industrial revolutions and is leading its customers into the Fourth, where machines and factories are connected and increasingly autonomous and self-learning. The factory of the future is already here.
