Smart sensors can optimize versatile manufacturing processes that necessitate regular line changes with products of varying sizes.
FREMONT, CA: Sensors are important for obtaining basic diagnostic information from industrial machinery and equipment.
However, the staff in charge of maintaining these computers is approaching retirement, and a new younger workforce is emerging.
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While this new generation can easily integrate into the rapidly changing manufacturing technology and data, it is not as familiar with the equipment as its older counterparts.
Smart sensors, for example, can optimize versatile manufacturing processes that necessitate regular line changes with products of varying sizes.
Since smart sensors store multiple profiles in the controller, manual configuration for each product generated on the belt is no longer needed.
They will forward them to the sensors if necessary to help the different items. This ensures that configuring the sensors can be reduced from many minutes to a few milliseconds. This enables one to improve one's versatile manufacturing.
Most flexible manufacturing applications contain a variety of sensors that must be re-trained. The methods for configuring sensors vary greatly from one sensor family to the next.
The operator is then more responsible for understanding the precise process required to update each sensor. Manually re-configuring the sensors on a single machine could take up to an hour.
While the required hourly rate for this task is not trivial, the real issue is the one-hour loss of output during configuration.
One production loss per day will cost up to $200,000, depending on the cost of the product being produced.
Adaption to a Changing Workforce
Smart sensors can help with the evolving workforce issue as well as preventing production downtime.
Most of the know-how is lost as the workforce ages and senior operators retire. In general, only one new employee is hired for every three retiring workers.
Older workers are more familiar with their machines; they are aware of any quirk and know how to deal with it.
When these seasoned operators retire, they take the majority of their skills with them. The next generation may not be aware of the peculiarities and remedies.
As a result, smart sensors with their plethora of diagnostic functions are advantageous for this shift in the workforce.
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