At first glance, sailing and modern sheet metal processing have
little in common. And yet there are parallels: In both fields, the
speed is at the very limits of what is technically possible, and the
crews rely on real-time information. Bystronic’s networked
manufacturing management solution enables even small sheet
metal processing companies to compete at the forefront of the
competition for orders.
Sailing is currently experiencing a revolution. Instead of gliding through the water
on their hulls, modern racing yachts soar over the waves thanks to their
hydrofoils. After the adjustable hydrofoils had already made catamarans fly
during past regattas, the new technology was used on monohull yachts for the
very first time during the 2021 America’s Cup off the coast of New Zealand. As a
result, the speed of the yachts has tripled. The foils enable speeds of up to 50
knots – almost 100 kilometers per hour. Paradoxically, aerodynamics are now
more important for these boats than hydrodynamics.
But there is another technological revolution in sailing that is not quite as
obvious. The crews competing in the America’s Cup are assisted by a vast
amount of real-time information: Reports on wind and weather, the sea
conditions, the positions of their opponents, and smart course control data, to
name but a few. Some 1,000 sensors on the yacht continuously feed information
to the skippers, helmsmen, deckhands, coaches, and engineers. Similar to
Formula 1, the racing action is monitored from the pit wall – a control center
where all the information flows together. Without a doubt: Nowadays, the key to
success is data, also in sailing.
More speed, more data
With the fiber laser, the sheet metal industry has witnessed a disruption in recent
years brought about by a new technology that is comparable to the hydrofoils in
sailing. The cutting speed of a fiber laser cutting machine outstrips that of a CO2
laser machine by up to a factor of four. The efficiency factor has tripled and the
energy efficiency is almost twice as high. The fast-paced progress of automation
solutions for the loading and unloading of cutting machines is allowing sheet
metal processing companies to tap into additional efficiency gains.
And we too are experiencing a second, parallel data revolution in our industry:
The smart factory is also controlled from a pit wall of sorts. And here, too,
countless sources of information flow together – from the production process
itself as well as from the factory’s entire environment. As in sailing, the intelligent
utilization of data will also improve the decision-making in the sheet metal
processing industry, allowing us to reach our goals even faster. Artificial
intelligence and machine learning are likely to play a major role in this trend.
IT and OT are converging
The home port of production operations used to be self-contained and rigid
material requirement planning (MRP) systems, which incorporated hardly any
external data. This is currently changing: We are heading towards a new world of
real-time connectivity and full integration of previously separate systems.
Information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) are increasingly
converging.
In the future, digital ecosystems will ensure the flow of data from the entire
supply chain into the warehouse and manufacturing systems of the smart factory,
not unlike the smart navigation tools used in modern sailing. Both fields are all
about the optimal coordination of software and hardware: Just as the flying
yachts are networked with the information systems in the water and on land, our
intelligent machine tools have to interact with the smart factory’s software
systems and their environment.
Small boats are more agile
Bystronic has set out to enable sheet metal workers to replicate just this in the
near future. Our vision is an orchestration of production processes that enables
solid predictability of what can be produced and by when, while offering the
flexibility to quickly respond to changes in the supply chain. In order to cover all
possible production scenarios, modularity, scalability, and agility are key
requirements for such a system.
Our cloud-based Digital Operating Platform (DOP) fulfills all these requirements.
During its development, we focused primarily on small sheet metal processing
companies. In the future, we want to help them tap into opportunities that were
previously only available to the large players. We will enable them to plan,
control, and evaluate their production processes with the same precision as their
large competitors. And since small boats are inherently more agile than large
ships, small and medium-sized production companies will in future increasingly
gain an edge in the competition for jobs.
Optimized decision-making
Navigating the stormy waters of our times is a challenge for manufacturing
companies. The uncertain situation regarding the further development of the
pandemic complicates planning, and at the same time, the competitive pressure
in our globalized world is higher than ever. In this dynamic environment,
responding flexibly to changes while always making the right decisions in order to
be the first to reach the objective is a huge challenge.
At Bystronic, we want to help our customers fly over the water instead of
laboriously sailing through the waves. Our solutions enable manufacturing
companies to take the decisive step towards the smart factory, where efficient
machines and state-of-the-art software are networked to create an intelligent
production environment. Users benefit from high computing capacities in the
cloud, an enriched business logic, a clear management platform, and, last but not
least, enhanced decision-making thanks to artificial intelligence and machine
learning.
((Author: Alberto Martínez, Head of Competence Center Software Services, Chief
Digital Officer, and Member of Bystronic Management Committee))
