How ACG is using Industry 4.0 to transform its manufacturing lines
ACG discusses the journey it has been on since 2017 to implement Industry 4.0 technologies into its capsule manufacturing lines.
Industry 4.0 & inflection points
The inflection point of a curve is the point where the curve takes a considerable change in trajectory. The change can be either upward or downward.
The same is true with business performance. To move in an upward trajectory from an inflection point, organisations need to make certain strategic, decisive choices. In today’s world, technology driven transformation powered by Industry 4.0 technologies is one such preferred choice. Progressive organisations have made this choice to come up with new business models, enhance customer experiences, build smart products and services, and transform operations. ACG started its Industry 4.0 journey in 2017 with focus on transforming operations.
Industry 4.0 at ACG, a case in point
It was a busy day at ACG’s capsule manufacturing facility. The maintenance team received an email and SMS alert on the increasing trend in the energy consumption in capsule manufacturing machines in one of the production halls. The machine learning algorithm had analysed and detected an anomaly in energy consumption, considering the machine operating data, production data, energy consumption data, local weather data, benchmark data from similar machines and SKUs (stock keeping units).
As soon as the anomaly was detected, auto root cause analysis was triggered to give clear and actionable insights to the end user. In this case, the root cause was the malfunctioning of heating coils. These heating coils were drawing more than normal current in the context of the SKU under production. While the symptom was about abnormal energy consumption, malfunctioning heating coils have a significant impact on product quality. Suitable alerts were generated showcasing the anomaly, root cause, and possible corrective actions based on standard operating procedures. The maintenance team swung into action to replace the heating coils thereby preventing any impact on product quality. This is one of the examples of how Industry 4.0 can add value to manufacturing operations.
Today, ACG is well on its way in the Industry 4.0 journey with a range of appropriate solutions deployed across functions spanning planning, production, maintenance, service, supply chain powered by technologies such as industrial IoT, machine learning, computer vision, advanced automation, augmented and virtual reality.
The journey
Reducing machine breakdowns and enhancing OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) in capsule manufacturing was the key business driver with which the Industry 4.0 journey started. Pilot projects began with focus on condition monitoring, breakdown analysis, and condition-based maintenance of capsule manufacturing machines. Initial days were spent on solving problems ranging from sensors, connectivity, data ingestion to the IoT platform, streaming, data management, data analysis and so on. There has been no ‘looking back’ since then.
Today, more than 1,000 machines are connected to our industrial IoT platform streaming more than 30,000 parameters real-time spanning process data, energy data, machine condition data, alarms, alerts and more. What started as a condition monitoring initiative has evolved into a range of industry 4.0 initiatives cutting across production planning, condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, energy optimisation, process capability, quality, safety, operator augmentation, remote service and more. These solutions are powered by Industry 4.0 technologies such as industrial IoT, advanced analytics, machine learning, computer vision, mobile robotics, augmented and virtual reality.
People and change management – the five Cs
Industry 4.0 is a huge change initiative encompassing technology, process, and people. Effective people and change management practices have helped us steer our Industry 4.0 journey in the right direction. Our change management is focussed on five Cs – Clarity, Consistency, Commitment, Capabilities, and Consequences.
To bring in clarity and consistency, we conducted several training sessions and workshops to create awareness about industry 4.0 and its relevance for our business. To drive commitment and accountability, a ‘hub and spoke’ organisation was created with clear ownership and goals aligned with our annual performance appraisal process. Review and governance mechanisms were set up with the top leadership of the organisation. Our rewards and recognition programme helped further improve motivation and commitment.
Building, deploying, and adopting Industry 4.0 initiatives requires a spectrum of technology and domain capabilities. Active collaboration with start-up ecosystems, continuous improvement cells and hands-on training sessions are helping us develop the required skill sets. We engaged with leading EdTech companies for online training on Industry 4.0 technologies. With a constantly changing technology landscape, skill management is a continuous endeavour.
Industry 4.0 is about transformation and change and there are consequences to any change. This brings in concerns and perceptions on the pains and gains. We conducted workshops across the organisation to address these perceptions and concerns, elaborate on the impact of change, and articulate the business value gained from Industry 4.0 initiatives. ACG will continue to focus and improve on change management practices to ensure effective adoption and value realisation from Industry 4.0 initiatives.
The way forward
So far, our Industry 4.0 journey has yielded significant benefits in reducing downtime, enhancing OEE, reducing lead time, optimising energy consumption, enhancing capacity, reducing defects, improving first pass yield, reducing set-up times, and much more.
While the current focus is on transforming operations, ACG is expanding into building smart connected products and services, developing delightful customer experiences, and creating digital led business models. The future is bright. The future is digital.