Digital Transformation in Manufacturing: What is the Trend of Future Factories?

by Ginny Yang

Making our way to “Industry 4.0” is not a decision but a must right now. Various 4IR issue is challenging Taiwan’s manufacturing industry, how do we get with the time?

Since 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and McKinsey & Company have been evaluating the world’s smart factories. The smart factories with the best performance in the 4IR era were selected to be part of the Global Lighthouse Network. The goal is to evaluate factories that are using cutting-edge technology, effective application, and deep integration, making them the global example of moving toward “Industry 4.0”.

“Global Lighthouse Factory does not replace manual labor with machines, but brings value to workers through digital technology.”

To date, there are 103 lighthouse factories in the world, and Wistron, AUO, Q-Tron, and Foxconn have been listed. Wistron’s Kunshan plant, which introduced PowerArena’s AI solutions in 2020, has been selected as a lighthouse factory in 2021. In Wistron’s digital transformation plan, PowerArena assisted them with AI to help optimize production lines with computer vision and AI analysis, which enhance capacity in the production process.

“Traditional manufacturing enterprises can improve their profit margins by 8% to 13% through digital transformation; the improvement effect of the “Lighthouse Factory” is even more obvious, with an average improvement of 50%-60% in operational indicators”

Through PowerArena’s computer vision AI, manufacturers are able to identify bottlenecks through production line analysis; there is also a real-time alert to keep operators in check to optimize standard procedures. By doing these, traditional manufacturing companies can improve profitability by 8% to 13% through digital transformation; with an average of 50%-60% improvement in operational metrics. These features of becoming one of the “lighthouse factories” will be more significant throughout the way.

Reference:
https://www.digiknow.com.tw/knowledge/61542c1b00aa3 https://buzzorange.com/techorange/2022/03/14/global-lighthouse-network/
https://www.bnext.com.tw/article/65244/foxcon-wef-digital-assure
Image Source:
https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/my/banner/kpmg-lighthouse-1.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1082.378.jpg

延伸閱讀: 

“Learned Value” by Foxconn Lighthouse Factory White Paper

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