Hyperflexible manufacturing: how can you benefit?

One of the most pressing problems in the manufacturing sector is adapting its machinery, processes and personnel in cases where changes are required, and what this implies operationally. Flexible manufacturing emerges as an efficient response to this problem and in this article we will teach you what it is and how you can benefit from it.

Assuming that the products maintain excellent quality and functionality, optimizing the Cycle Time of a process can be the determining variable to access an increasingly competitive market. Current technologies allow products to be quickly adapted to customer needs, facilitating compliance with specifications, delivery times and costs.

Now, what really is flexible manufacturing? Let's see it!

What is flexible manufacturing?

Flexible manufacturing refers to an automated manufacturing system in which a group of workstations (machines and equipment) are interconnected with each other through a common software platform that facilitates the exchange of information between all machines, substantially favoring the productivity of the organization, since they reduce the costs associated with the manufacturing of long series of products.

Also called flexible manufacturing systems (or FMS), they have been tested for years to test the impact of technology and design techniques, compared to the normal performance of a company with manual processes. .

Therefore, a flexible manufacturing system is characterized by the integration of manufacturing or integrated processes, which are associated with material flow, control and communication between process control devices and a system. The goal is to have the flexibility to respond quickly and economically to changes in your operating environment.

FMS are characterized by containing a set of conditions that allow them to be truly competitive compared to other manufacturing methods, for example, manufacturing to order and continuous manufacturing. This type of technology is supported by tools such as:

Microelectronics: related to the study and application of very small electronic devices and components, which comply with a certain sequence, examples of PLC's or programmable logic controls.
Automation: electronic or computerized systems that allow a series of repetitive tasks to be carried out automatically at an industrial or business level
Control techniques: a series of guidelines and protocols for analyzing behaviors and processes and guaranteeing efficiency and compliance with specifications.

All these tools, together with special materials and computer programs, allow new approaches to be added to the manufacturing process and the resolution of increasingly complex problems without human or manual labor.

The reason that flexible manufacturing is a trend right now is because market conditions have led companies to look for methods to increase their profitability in current business conditions, in an environment that is increasingly demanding.

You may wonder what the priorities of manufacturing organizations are. Well here they are:

Improve product quality and reliability
Being able to predict the conditions and confidence that there will be about manufacturing
Ability to integrate the product, operations and organization into the same process
Shorten downtime for the manufacturing of new products
Eliminate non-essential manufacturing costs
Reduce preparation and waiting times between series
Being able to automate the greatest number of processes effectively
Generate more production without this representing more investment.

Competitiveness has led organizations to seek better processes that guarantee the quality of their products. Likewise, flexible manufacturing allows us to comply not only with all of the above, but also to be able to launch, without unnecessary expense, special products for each client.

Now, let's see how you can get all these benefits.

How can you access the benefits of flexible manufacturing?

When management decides to increase its manufacturing capabilities using flexible manufacturing, certain steps must be followed to do it correctly. Below, we show you 3 of them.

Implementation of a control system

There are computerized and microelectronic systems that allow electronic recording, for example, of the measurement process of the raw materials necessary to manufacture a specific product.

In addition, these tools can verify its quality and the losses that occur during manufacturing.

Likewise, a control system can efficiently and quickly identify where delays and failures occur in the process. This is possible thanks to the event activation procedure, which makes it easier for operators and managers to determine and document the problem.

A system of this type maximizes manufacturing value by providing the conditions for guide management and optimal execution of each batch.

Acquire a visual information platform

This type of tool is especially useful when you need to establish the quality and time standards that the factory expects. The great advantage that this technology offers is instant notifications when these conditions are not met. Such notifications may be channeled, for example, to email.

On the other hand, it facilitates the generation of alerts (either from the machine or from the operator) when a stoppage event is started to proceed with the inspection of the station or machinery.

It also allows stoppage events to be escalated so that specialists can find a solution sooner. With this, the factory is given the facility to standardize the event attention processes and reinforce quality indices at each stage.

Implement an information platform Human-machine interface (HMI or SCADA)

This type of application allows, in real time, to execute acquisitions, management and supervision of data generated during the production process and even storage of historical data of the process for analysis and reports.

They are high-tech and fully scalable industrial applications that allow you to integrate operations and control systems in the same interface, carry out digitalization projects to implement systems that promote efficiency and the basis for achieving better profitability.

In short, the flexible manufacturing systems They help create the so-called hyperflexibility in factories, which gives them the possibility of adapting their products according to the specific needs of each consumer, without altering their workflows, while optimizing the use of materials.

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