8 AUGUST - 2023OPINIONThere's a lot of talk about digital technologies in manufacturing these days, such as digital twins, digital threads and augmented reality. All these things can be powerful tools in decision making for manufacturers but it must be understood implementing these tools is not a project or a series of projects, it's a journey that requires an organized structure to be followed and buy-in from top management to the production floor. At a previous Tier one automotive supplier I worked for, I noticed an improvement could be made to the design process, we used to design assembly lines for new vehicles. We used spreadsheets to map out a high-level view of the assembly process, estimated cycle times for each task based on previous assembly lines and from there we wrote the specifications for a vendor to quote building the new assembly line. After several occasions where I had to redesign and rearrange assembly lines after their initial installment I thought "I know there is a way to design these lines and work out these issues before the equipment is built". That's the point in my career where I started down the digital technology journey. Through my experiences of building digital twins, utilizing augmented reality, and automating communication flows of data I learned implementing digital technologies are much more than executing a project, it's a journey that requires a structured approach and company culture change that starts at the top. The framework required to successfully plan, launch, and sustain a digital technology tool is vision, incentives, skills, resources, and an action plan. Whether you are a leader tasking your team with this initiative or you're proposing this initiative to your leaders, the foundational elements are the same. Vision is the starting point. Defining this element will give a clear picture of the goal and expectations once implemented. A poorly defined vision creates confusion so defining this element is paramount to the success of your DIGITALIZATION IN MANUFACTURING ASSEMBLY LINESBy Trent Randles, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, BorgWarnerTrent Randles
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