DIGITAL SERIES


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Tuesday, July 28 2020 | 45 minutes | 09:00 GMT Case Study : Reinventing the shop floor to meet today’s demands Manufacturing automation has been prevalent since the 1970s. Advances in technology, including robotics, big data, machine learning, AI, and IoT have substantially improved factory production since then. This session will shed insight on robotics trends that are driving the evolution of manufacturing automation and explore how robots could be used to meet our production needs during the remote-work nature of a pandemic – a capability no longer considered “optional”. More specifically, the session will assess how AI is powering robotics as a proven successful tool for managing complexity in production when optimising for quality. The automotive industry, for example, predominantly uses AI for optical inspections in parts manufacturing and in its assembly processes. The factory floor is where profits are made or lost, where customers are pleased or disgruntled. When the shop floor is operating poorly, the entire enterprise suffers as a result of the factory floors becoming inoperable. With robots becoming increasingly sophisticated, manufacturers can employ them for greater agility and flexibility on production runs. Improved sensors and AI are further revolutionising robotics and improving their effectiveness in factory automation.
  • Will manufacturing business models adapt so that services are completely provided by robots? Will traditional suppliers be replaced by cobots?
  • How does AI support the decision-making mechanism in manufacturing facilities?
  • Digital Humanism: what are the challenges of jumping from low-skilled labour directly to automation?
  • What would be left for the workforce once robots are deployed on the workshop floor? Are we entering a new era “white collar humans” and “blue collar robots” in the manufacturing sector?