Demand for highly-customised products means manufacturers need the agility to respond to a rapidly changing manufacturing environment, and the traditional ways of working are failing to meet this challenge.

At a Dassault Systèmes 3DS event day at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s Factory 2050, Guillaume Vendroux, CEO of DELMIA had a clear message - manufacturers need to modernise the way they work.

He told delegates that improving productivity on workshop floors with robotics and automation alone is not sufficient, and that manufacturers need to do more to realise the true benefits of Industry 4.0.

Guillaume was speaking to representatives from the aerospace, automotive and construction industries that came to see how Industry 4.0 connected technologies are providing opportunities for their businesses to work in new, more productive ways:

“The industrial renaissance is happening now; Industry 4.0 is the last step of an old era. Manufacturers still can’t react with flexibility to address new demands so we need to move forward with digitalisation by connecting our automated systems to the virtual world. Connecting our shop floor to a digital twin, where virtual meets the real, will provide a continuous optimisation loop to support flexible and agile manufacturing processes.”

Many manufacturers are now realising the need to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies, but Emmanuel Duboc, NETVIBES/Exalead Solution Consultant for Dassault Systèmes said most don’t know how to get the full benefits of the data collected from those technologies to provide clarity for planning of maintenance and real-time operations:

“Businesses need to understand what happens on their workshop floor and having a platform that brings value by collecting and analysing big data, the ability to design and test simulations and manage workshop floor operations; a platform which transforms data to actionable knowledge for innovation and improving operations.”

The AMRC’s Head of Digital, Professor Rab Scott agrees: “Everyone knows data has no value, not unless you can get it to the right person, at the right time and through the right system and product. You have to take that raw data and turn it into knowledge.”

Whilst at the event delegates had the opportunity to witness how the AMRC are tackling these challenges with use-cases for the programmes powered by Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This included seeing how the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre uses the DELMIA Apriso management execution system (MES) for operations management on its Project RAID research cell.

Project RAID aims to demonstrate the value and accessibility to SMEs of digital ‘Industry 4.0’ ready technologies, but also to show the benefits of integrating these technologies with larger shop floor MES in use in larger companies.

DELMIA Apriso allows the engineers involved in the project at Factory 2050 to develop processes and dashboards for the integration of the hardware used in the assembly of a Caterham 270S kit sports car, with its data processing abilities.

Using Industry 4.0 connected technologies such as smart tools, laser projection, industrial cameras and RFID tags, the engineers can collect data about the assembly and monitor operations. This has allowed the team to realise benefits of using a MES in this way for improved quality, traceability and productivity.

AMRC’s Head of Digital, Professor Rab Scott, said: “At the AMRC we de-risk the technology and techniques for industry. That’s why we work with Dassault Systems on projects such as this. We’ve got access to the toolsets manufacturers may not have thought about or considered investing in, and we can show the potential benefits before they do.”

“The AMRC is a great place to investigate manufacturing of the future, as manufacturing is now moving towards being more high-tech and is becoming an important focus for businesses to invest in,” Guillaume said.

“The path to digitisation will start somewhere and manufacturers need to start by rethinking business models and processes. Industry 4.0 can’t just be about going digital, it’s about rethinking your business model to leverage what benefits digital technologies can give you.”