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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

necks, machine performance problems, and other • Lower capital costs: Increasingly, smart factory
operational inefficiencies. With this data, manufac- design includes production systems suited to differ-
turers can adjust yields, improve product quality, ent setups or more than one task–a robot that can
and reduce waste. drill and weld, for example. Using versatile multi-
task assembly machines with fewer chassis can
• Delegating routine tasks to robots: Improvements provide significant CAPEX savings.
in automated decision-making machines (robots)
make it possible for humans to intervene less and • Lower labor costs: Delegating some assembly,
less in production processes. inspection, and decision-making duties to robots
and automated assembly robots can reduce total
Benefits: Essential Process Improvements human effort and labor costs.

The single, most essential benefit that smart factories • More agile manufacturing: Using data analytics
provide is enabling their operations to do more—give and embedded sensors, smart factory logistics
leaner processes, more flexible product development, systems automatically compare demand levels and
and more agile responses to technical and market production rates. By using this capability, manufac-
changes. The advanced capabilities we describe above turers can control throughput and respond quickly
make these process improvements possible: to changes in market conditions. ◊

• Digital connectivity across shop floor By Colin Koh, Senior Business Development Manager,
Industry 4.0 Consultant of LKH Precicon
• Lower product design and development costs: 3D
printing supports rapid prototyping and testing of Colin is a technology evange-
new designs. By using agile development meth- list, digital transformation spe-
ods, manufacturers can use "fast fail" Agile meth- cialist, and highly-respected
ods to design and test new or upgraded products. figure in the ASEAN business
community, who previously
• Lower operations costs: Smart manufacturing pro- served as the President of the
vides greater data access across the supply chain Singapore Industrial Automa-
by defining which resources are needed and when tion Association (SIAA), is a
real-time data enables manufacturers to reduce certified IoT specialist and an
overstocking costs or shortfalls. Smart processes MIT Sloan School of Manage-
shrink the volume of waste and avoid system ment Executive program in Artificial Intelligence and
downtime by supplying just the number of parts IoT. Colin currently provides mentorship and advisory
that are is needed, neither more nor less. to companies implementing digital transformation to-
wards Industry 4.0.

20 April 2022: Marketing Automation: AI, Big Data & Deep Learning