Paving the way for smart manufacturing

Existing ramp-up practices for products or services take up considerable time and energy mainly because they are performed manually. This is not feasible for a manufacturing SME that needs several or even repeated product modifications.

Thanks to the EU-funded 'Intelligent reconfigurable machines for smart plug&produce production' (I-RAMP3) project, a smart and flexible system that reduces the intervals for production lines and associated costs is being developed.

To achieve this, researchers are incorporating added capabilities into current and new production networks. They are converting conventional production equipment into network-enabled devices (NETDEVs). These production devices are equipped with built-in intelligence by integrating models for such capabilities as fast ramp-up, ideal process implementation, and maintenance or quality evaluation.

The development of NETDEVs will provide more uses for standard devices and they will also be able to adapt to various production situations.

Project members have developed intelligent sensor and actuator prototypes that will be key to tomorrow's smart factories featuring higher levels of efficiency and productivity. They include standard interfaces and cutting-edge communication protocols that can be seamlessly integrated into NETDEVs.

The prototypes will enhance devices that are important in realising progressively agile manufacturing systems in an industry that requires constant change in methods, products and production capacities.

I-RAMP3 intends to boost the competitive advantage of manufacturing SMEs by building tools that will be a part of their day-to-day production processes. This novel technology should bring the European manufacturing industry one step closer to the vision of flexible and sustainable production.