Micro-factory
refers to a small dimension factory able to produce small dimension products.
The term was proposed by the Mechanical Engineer Laboratory (MEL) of Japan in 1990. The micro-factory main advantages are to save great amount of resources like space, energy, materials and time.
Due to their reduced dimensions, micro-factories should be highly automated. They might contain automatic machine tools, 3 D-printers, assembly systems, quality inspection systems, material feed systems, waste elimination systems, a system to evaluate tool deterioration and a system to replace tools.
A micro-factory can also refer to a factory designed to produce flexible small batch production that can produce a wide variety of products as opposed to a single monolithic mass production type approach.
Typically the manufacturing processes of micro-factories take advantage of digital fabrication technology such as 3D printing and CNC machines in order to accomplish this.
This course will provide you with the insight into the following Modules:
Module 1: Industrie 4.0 Transformation
>Understanding the potential the I4.0 Transformation
-Industrie 4.0: Technology Evolution
-Industrie4.0: Geographic Scope
-Industrie 4.0: Organizational Evolution
-Industrie 4.0: Leading Digital
-Industrie 4.0: Up-Skilling-as-a-Strategy
-The Industrie 4.0 Transformation
Module 2: Micro-Factory
>Getting to know how to make micto- factories smart
-The Smart Connected Factory
-ERP System
-Manufacturing Execution System
-SCADA
-PLC
-CPS and Digital Twin Design
-Cyber Physical Systems
-Smart Connected Factories Integration (Vertical, horizontal, end-to-end)
As this deep dive workshop is designed to have e-learning preparation, limited group sizes for live lecture and breakout sessions for deep dive team co-creation, it enables participants to ‘ask the expert’ questions specific to their needs.
Therefore, this provides a unique opportunity to come away from this deep dive workshop with all the information you need.
Main Micro-Factory 4.0 (MF4.0)) Business Model advantages:
-Investments in productive capacity – a micro factory would typically have a capacity of around 5,000 units a year – are
incremental, expandable in line with market demand.
-The incremental expansion of capacity means that new plants can be added to develop new markets, while new products
or variants can be introduced incrementally, resulting in risk reduction.
-Customers can be shown around the plant and meet the people who make their car, and can thereby feel ‘closer’ to the product
-The factory becomes the location for repair, spare parts, upgrading, restoration and modification. This allows the manufacturer to tap into the elusive but potentially very profitable aftermarket revenue stream, while allowing the car to ‘grow’ with its owner thereby enhancing retention and vehicle lifespans for greater sustainability.
-The factory can undergo a transition over time from an essentially new car production focus, to one more involved in service and repair. Thus, the factory does not depend solely on the sale of new cars.
-The inherent flexibility of small-scale manufacturing provides better customer care, as well as shorter lead times, and late configuration.
-The model builds stronger worker commitment to the product and to customers. This results in more satisfying work for staff, and better quality levels with all the benefits this entails-It also builds higher skill levels in local communities.
-This manufacturing approach can take advantage of local small scale suppliers adding content appreciated by local markets. At the same time, modular supply strategies combined with commodity or off-the-shelf purchasing can reduce cost and achieve economies of scale where these are most appropriate, such as in powertrain – with the advent of electronic vehicles, increasingly: batteries, controllers and electric traction motors.
-Modular construction allows quick and easy product up-grades. Thus, technologies that meet the latest environmental and safety standards can often be retrofitted – a major area of obsolescence in the current system – while the vehicle can also be tailored to changing customer needs and wants.
-Small scale manufacturing processes have a lower environmental impact compared with traditional high-volume manufacturing Lower site impact: a modern car plant occupies several square kilometers of land. Compared with this, Micro-factories operates rom a classic ‘light industrial’ facility.
-MF4.0 facilities meet social and political objectives by creating local employment in high-value manufacturing activities. At a time when mass production jobs are being globalized, the MF 4.0 approach makes a key contribution in retaining those skills and adding value within the local market. The MF4.0 facility does not necessarily sell the car/vehicle, but would be equally viable as manager of a product-service system, whereby it would own the car and sell a mobility service to the user under a leasing-style arrangement.