Asia Manufacturing News May/June 2017

ASIA

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

MANUFACTURING NEWS Success Through Innovation $4

May/June 2017

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Elon Musk’s Brave New World

Three Trends for the Future of Manufacturing

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12 ANALYSIS

Three trends for the Future of Manufacturing

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Growing applications seen for smart robots

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Industrial IoT goes mainstream in 2017

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IN 2017 • Have your developments seen in Asia Manufacturing News.

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EDITORIAL ASIA

MANUFACTURING NEWS

Making creativity work

JEZ Media

Managing Editor Doug Green

Manufacturing offers so much.

Manufacturing resonates across the whole economy creating jobs and growth in other industries. Sort of, if you make it they too will benefit.

Art Direction Kim Alves Advertising Enquiries Please visit

Doug Green

And as the fourth industrial beckons we need to look at ways to protect manufacturing while making it better and stronger.

As is so aptly said (on Page 6, Three Trends for the Future of Manufacturing) we need to focus on skills, public-private sector partnerships and continue the journey of innovation.

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Subscriptions publisher@xtra.co.nz Subscription Rate $24 p.a. Digital Single Copies $4 Asia Manufacturing News is published

Innovation creates new opportunities; trained staff undertake the functions and this is where aligning manufacturing education with industry standards is crucial.

bi-monthly and offers the reader the

There is a fair bit about robots in this issue. Looking at the applications they undertake and enhancing productivity through their functions. However, they can’t replace us …in empathy, we’ll always come out on top because we can feel for our fellow members of humankind.

Asia Manufacturing News welcomes

Increasing in warehousing and logistics robots are gathering importance. They are highly efficient and leave us wondering just what we are doing on the earth? The development of AI technologies ought to be enhancing the quality of our lives.

At the 2014 World Cup, for example, a parapalegic wearing an AI-controlled exoskeleton kicked off the event.

So, the point is? We can do well by thinking ahead, planning, being creative and realising that for all the great products that have been made in our world…we may still be touching the tip of the iceberg.

latest in business and manufacturing news across ASEAN region. articles and contributions and encourages readers to share their development stories and opinions with fellow readers.

Asia Manufacturing News uses information in good faith. We give no guarantee of the accuracy of information provided. No liability is accepted for the result of any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this information. Those acting on the information do so entirely at their own risk.

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We can run faster, fly further, make more gadgets if what we make has a purpose, hopefully we can all benefit from.

For a copy of the Media Kit 2017 please email publisher@xtra.co.nz

JEZ Media

Smart Manufacturing SM✓ Information, Technology and Human Ingenuity

CONTENTS 6 | ANALYSIS Three trends for the Future of Manufacturing.

7 | DEVELOPMENTS Digital capability centre provides hands-on experience.

8 | COMMENT The one crucial skill our education system is missing.

10 | MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

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Siemens platform to support global vision.

Growing applications seen for smart robots Enhancing productivity through collaborative robots.

14 | ANALYSIS Elon Musk’s brave new world.

18 | EVENTS

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Vitafoods Asia 2017 to be held in Singapore.

19 | IoT Industrial IoT goes mainstream in 2017.

22 | NEW PRODUCTS Fast leakage tests delivered.

PointSense 18.0…makes a lot of…

RIGPL India at MTA Vietnam.

Baidu advances AI in the Cloud.

24 | DEVELOPMENTS

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Veolia wins Sri Lanka water contract.

NEC and Enspireme to build European energy storage system.

EFACEC Handling Solutions now Consoveyo.

Robotics company compete package for SE Asian food industry.

29 | MOVING THE GOALPOSTS Inside China’s plans for world robot domination.

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30 | PRODUCTIVITY Zero-gravity arms recognised by leading SE Asia construction company.

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

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ANALYSIS

THREE TRENDS FOR THE

FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING The link between manufacturing and economic growth is critical. Every dollar in final sales of manufactured products supports $1.33 in output from other sectors— this is the largest multiplier of any sector. Manufacturing investments create ripples across the economy, creating jobs and growth in other industries.

But how can we support the manufacturing sector, and therefore the broader, economy at the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution? Research indicates three crucial factors: a focus on skills, continued innovation and technology, and more public-private partnerships.

A focus on skills As we enter the fourth industrial revolution and the role of technology increases, the skill set needed to work in the manufacturing industry increases – but many workers don’t get the chance to learn new skills and fill the void.

As early as four years ago, the skills gap left 10 million manufacturing jobs worldwide that cannot be filled, and that number seems only to have increased since.

The implications of such a shortage are significant; they can have a material impact on both workers’ employment and incomes, and manufacturers’ growth and profitability.

The link between manufacturing and economic growth is critical.

But the situation can be reversed. CEOs and manufacturing executives around the world already identify talent-driven innovation as the number one 6

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determinant of competitiveness.

Manufacturers are looking to recruit highly skilled workers and are willing to pay more than the market rates in workforce areas reeling under talent crisis.

If the skills gap can be closed, both workers and manufacturers can once again thrive.

Continued innovation Innovation creates new opportunities for manufacturing and the growth of the industry. In order to make the industry globally competitive, manufacturers must leverage new technology. We need to be innovative, adaptable, and accountable in order to take control of our future.

By reinvesting in manufacturing, both small and large manufacturers will be positioned to create thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs, as well as spin-off jobs in other sectors of the economy.

Public-private partnerships A skilled and educated workforce, or rather the lack of it, is the greatest influence in global manufacturing. The key to closing this growing skills gap is public-private partnership – where the education system provides industry-based training, and is aligned to private sector standards, combined with on-the-job learning, and supported by public policy leaders and civil society.

Aligning manufacturing education with industry standards sets high expectations and establishes an effective and critical talent pipeline. It is essential that policy-makers advocate for education and job training policies that strengthen the manufacturing workforce.

DEVELOPMENTS

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

DIGITAL CAPABILITY CENTRE PROVIDES HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE McKinsey & Company announces the opening of the Digital Capability Center (DCC) in Singapore, with PTC as one of its key technology providers.

The DCC is a cooperation between the world’s leading management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, global technology provider, PTC, and other leading technology companies. Many of the DCC learning factory operations will be based on technology solutions from PTC. The DCC is a learning factory focused on Industrie 4.0 manufacturing. Visitors are invited to explore this realistic factory setting to learn firsthand about solutions that can enable companies to drive digital transformation and how to deploy such solutions along the entire value chain – from an initial customer inquiry through to development, production, delivery, and service. In hands-on workshops.

Participants will discover a systematic and targeted approach to unlock value from Industrie 4.0. Sessions will also address management challenges around employee empowerment and acceptance of the changes brought about by organisational transformation.

Participants can explore ways to tackle challenges they face in their own businesses and gain insight into key digital solutions and technologies such as real-time diagnostic tools and big data analytics, predictive maintenance, digital performance management, 3D printing, and robots.

DCC Singapore showcases the simulated operation of a mid-size gearbox company with

spare parts fabrication, gearbox design, assembly and engineering services.

The production line itself maps a scenario comprising multiple sophisticated high-tech machines in a discrete manufacturing environment, each with different controls and interfaces.

The insights gained can be easily applied to a variety of practical applications in a wide range of industries.

The DCC is designed to help workshop attendees learn how to use the latest digital technologies and increase productivity by applying them.

To that end, PTC has contributed its powerful IoT technology platform and considerable expertise in developing the Integrated digital performance management and predictive maintenance showcase.

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COMMENT

Students need more than tech prowess to thrive.

THE ONE CRUCIAL SKILL OUR

EDUCATION SYSTEM IS MISSING From Blade Runner to I, Robot, the big screens of Hollywood have predicted the rise of the machine. Automated intelligences will wait our tables and drive our cabs. They will serve us by performing menial tasks.

But fact is now surpassing fiction. Automation has moved beyond the factory assembly line as computers are diagnosing illnesses, providing legal counsel, and make financial and political decisions.

And if artificial intelligence really is faster, smarter and more reliable, what are we left with?

The answer is precisely that element which makes us less efficient and slower. Our humanity. But rather than being seen as a weakness, this is actually our strongest suit.

It’s one we need to empower, because studies show that as the world becomes increasingly automated, computerised and digitalised, we are losing the very skills that define us as human. Just when we need them the most.

Our empathy is something that computers will always struggle to emulate. We need to celebrate what makes us different from even the smartest of the machines.

While the future belongs to those who are able to navigate this increasingly digitalised world of ours, the choicest spoils will fall to those who can combine technological fluency with emotional intelligence.

The worrying decline of empathy In the fourth industrial revolution, humans are not making the most of this potential advantage. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, said at Davos this year that in a world with a surfeit of AI and machine learning, “human values such as common sense and empathy will be scarce.” A finding by Sara Konrath at Michigan University shows that young people are becoming less empathic than ever; American College students showed a 48% decrease in empathic concern and a 34% drop in their ability to see other people’s perspectives.

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The figures indicate that precisely now, when our powers to engage with others could make the difference between ourselves and our automated counterparts, we are allowing our empathy muscles to atrophy. We are, to put it simply, disengaging.

Some 87% of millennials admitted to missing out on a conversation because they were distracted by their phone. Ironically, in a world that is increasingly connected, we as individuals, as families, as a society, are becoming less connected.

And if artificial intelligence really is faster, smarter and more reliable, what are we left with?

A Gallup poll shows that families eat together less and less, while51% of teens would rather communicate digitally than in person (even with friends). And 43% of 18-24 year-olds say that texting is just as meaningful as an actual conversation with someone over the phone.

So at a time when we should be flexing our empathic muscles and becoming more emotionally intelligent we are actually dumbing down. We have become empathic slobs and this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

MIT is one of the few institutions that understands the importance of honing its students’ emotional intelligence as well as their technical skills.

Their undergraduates - soon to be the world’s elite technologists - can attend a “Charm School”, a long-running, tongue-in-cheek programme which includes advice on everything from when to make eye contact and how to kindly break bad news.

MIT have hit on an invaluable point, realising the need to fill a crucial gap in their students’ educations.

But by the time young people reach tertiary education it might already be too late. We need to build empathy into our entire education system and create corporate environments that value skills that have previously been labelled as “soft” add-ons.

Asia Manufacturing News

The trouble with the 3 Rs In many ways the problem is a historical one. Our education system is still rooted in the values of the industrial era. The so-called 3 Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic - which prepared students for factory and clerical tasks, concentrated on so-called “hard” skills at the expense of creativity, imagination or emotional intelligence.

While education systems do foster empathy through subjects like foreign languages, literature and the arts, these are not always seen as crucial.

In the words of Teresa Cremin, a professor of education at the UK’s Open University, by failing to develop resilience, imagination (linked to empathy), creativity and resourcefulness, the British National Curriculum is “educating for the past, not the rapidly changing and unknown future”. Other countries face a similar disconnect.

The skills associated with empathy need to become core values in our homes, our schools and the workplace. They need to be embedded at all levels of society. This is not a box-ticking exercise. These are not soft skills, they are the skills of the future, because while technology is crucial, it will be far more powerful when in the hands of the emotionally literate geek.

And to provide a future generation with high levels of emotional literacy we need to institutionalise empathy to systematise it, making it a part of the foundations of our learning both at work and as school.

MIT is not the only institution to have woken up to this: SAP now have a ‘Empathy to action’ programme

May/June 2017

for their sales teams, Facebook have an Empathy Lab, Johnson and Johnson have a new business direction with empathy at the heart of it. These initiatives recognise the fundamental shifts that society is undergoing and the need to prepare for the changes that are still to come.

It is a cliché of science fiction that as AI advances, the computers become more humanised until it is almost impossible to tell us apart. So it is a monumental irony that in the real world, the advance of AI has resulted in a human race that is becoming increasingly automated, digitised and computerised. We always thought the threat of machines was that they would emulate us so well they would replace us. We never considered that it could go in the other direction.

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Editorial and advertising deadline is 20 July 2017

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3D and 4D Developments (additive manufacturing)

Banner advertising to be addressed to publisher@xtra.co.nz

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

SIEMENS PLATFORM TO SUPPORT VISION FOR GLOBAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MARKET As part of its comprehensive vision to provide the industry’s most complete set of seamless tools to support the global additive manufacturing industry, Siemens has revealed plans for a new online collaborative platform designed to bring on-demand product design and 3D printing production to the global manufacturing industry.

The part manufacturing platform, being developed by Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) software business and announced at Hannover Messe 2017, will provide an environment capable of connecting all members of the global manufacturing community in order to maximize resource utilization, access additive manufacturing expertise and expand business opportunity.

For example, by linking part buyers to micro-factories, the platform would enable members to 3D print production parts on-demand where-needed across the world. In addition, the platform will include collaborative capabilities to help streamline the co-innovation process and accelerate the adoption of 3D printing as a mainstream production method for industrial parts.

“Siemens is one of the only companies addressing the diverse needs of all additive manufacturing market participants – from designers and engineers, to manufacturers, 3D printing machine OEMs, material vendors and software providers – with a comprehensive set of seamless technology solutions for distributed industrial additive manufacturing and co-innovation,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens PLM Software.

“This announcement builds on that leadership with a platform aimed at instantly connecting the people, technology, equipment and expertise needed to efficiently address mutual business opportunities.”

Siemens is introducing the part manufacturing platform to address the growing need for on-demand, worldwide access to additive manufacturing expertise and the latest technology.

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The platform will create an online ecosystem made up of highly qualified members from a variety of areas such as product designers, job shops, part buyers, 3D printer OEMs, material suppliers, expert services providers, micro-factories and much more. Members will be able to instantly connect with other members to initiate co-innovation of products using the latest software tools for additive manufacturing.

For example, a global network of experts all having access to the same gateway could participate in and contribute to the design and development of a reimagined product for additive manufacturing. Also, part buyers could use the platform to quickly find qualified services, enhance job scheduling and reduce the time to obtain production quantities of end-use parts at needed locations. At the same time, manufacturing service providers could create a pipeline of job orders for next generation designs, maximise machine utilisation and expand their businesses.

Finally, 3D printer OEMs could connect with the community regarding their latest systems, technology and expertise for repeatable production of industrial parts and quantities.

By exchanging information and practical knowledge, members will have the opportunity to enhance productivity, increase expertise, streamline co-innovation and accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing technology to a new level of industrial use.

The new digital platform is expected to launch in mid-2018..

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

GROWING APPLICATIONS SEEN FOR

SMART ROBOTS

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) robots will increasingly grow across industries, providing new business opportunities, according to speakers at the 2017 Tech Trends Symposium, held during the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) 2017 in April.

At a 15 April symposium session entitled “The New Era of Robotics Disruption,” four experts discussed industry applications of AI robots and relevant business opportunities, while highlighting the importance of nurturing talent in research and development (R&D).

Wide scope of applications Norman C Tien, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong, said the 2016 victory of AI robot AlphGo over South Korean master Lee Sedol at the “Go” board game showed that the technology has come a long way. “Companies are all developing strategies for the robots to learn and get smarter,” he said.

Professor Tien stressed that robotic technology has a wide variety of applications, ranging from civilian drones to medical sensors and self-driving systems.

“Applications are boundless, as robotic technology can be applied in almost anything,” he said. “The trend would be developing the technology that changes people’s lives seamlessly like the smartphone or social media did.”

For instance, he added, when vehicles are equipped with self-driving systems, people will no longer have to learn how to drive. Smart technology used to control the flow of vehicles. It will also eliminate traffic jams in future.

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Adding value to “3D” industries, upgrading human resources Dr Crystal Fok, Technical Lead (Robotics), Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp, predicted that smart robots will be used in various industries in Hong Kong in the next five years, including for tasks characterised as the “3D”: Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous - such as for industrial laundry and construction-site welding.

“The robot is a tool. With the technologies, robots can help tackle the problems,” said Dr Fok. She stressed that robots will not replace humans but upgrade workers to value-added jobs.

Dr Chia-Peng Day, General Manager, Foxconn Automation Technology Development Committee, concurred that in the long run, robotic technology can be applied to factory automation systems, particularly in the “3D” sectors, adding that the technology involves a chained system rather than just a robot.

Enhancing efficiency According to Dr Fok, Hong Kong’s logistics industry has been a pioneer in robotic technology applications, particularly in developing smart warehouses where mobile robots pick, categorise and pack stock autonomously. She added that with the development of AI systems, it will be possible someday for multiple robots to work in the same warehouse to enhance production efficiency.

However, she added that the use of smart warehouses is not limited to the logistics industry, but may be extended eventually to other industries and is expected to be an area of high profit growth. She added that educational entertainment is another area where R&D in robotic technology had an early start and is yielding rewards.

Business opportunities through improving quality of life Gordon Cheng, Professor and Chair, Institute for Cognitive Systems, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, believed there is potential for robotic technology applications in such fields as edutainment, medicine and industry.

For the medical and industrial sectors, he expected the technology to become widely used as technological costs gradually decrease.

He added the development of AI technologies should

Asia Manufacturing News

focus on enhancing the quality of life. He cited the example of the 2014 World Cup, which was kicked off by a paraplegic wearing an AI-controlled exoskeleton.

Germany is developing different types of force cell sensors that may be applied to smart robots, and conducting experiments for medical applications to help disabled people live a full life.

Professor Cheng also highlighted the possibility of replacing domestic helpers with smart robots, adding that Europe and the United States may be forerunners in employing the technology for this purpose given the high cost of employing domestic help.

China potential, global need for nurturing talent Dr Day noted that China is promoting the development of robotic technology through large-scale investment and policy support, and is poised to become a leading adopter of the technology.

May/June 2017

He also highlighted the need to nurture global talent for the field, underscoring the importance of educational investment.

For Hong Kong, Dr Fok also saw a need to nurture local R&D talent that responds to developing trends.

Professor Tien emphasised that the city needs to build an ecosystem conducive to the development of innovation and technology.

He noted that the government has invested HK$18 billion in fostering the development of innovation technology, and set up a HK$2 billion fund for investing in local tech start-ups.

Professor Tien added that the Robotics Alliance of Hong Kong, which he chairs serves as a link between the industry and local R&D institutes in facilitating the exchange of ideas and technology.

ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS Nissan Motor Company has successfully deployed Universal Robots’ UR10 robot arms at its Yokohama factory joining other global automotive manufacturers including BMW and Volkswagen who are using Universal Robots’ collaborative robots (cobots) to automate their processes.

Through the deployment of Universal Robots’ cobots, Nissan has enhanced its production processes, resulting in a higher level of output and stability as well as time and cost efficiencies. Nissan’s aging workforce also enjoy a reduced workload, and were redeployed to less strenuous tasks.

Cobots are an offshoot of traditional industrial robots. They are lightweight and mobile in terms of deployment, and are flexible enough to be modified for different applications. The automotive industry uses cobots in a wide variety of processes including handling, assembling, packaging, palletizing, labelling, painting, quality control and machine tending. The market value for collaborative industrial robots in the automotive industry was US$23.56 million in 2015 and is projected to reach US$469.82 million by 2021, at a CAGR of 64.67% between 2015 and 2021.

Rise of Collaborative Industrial Robots in Southeast Asia’s Automotive Industry The automotive industry in SEA is poised for great growth with large markets experiencing important sales growth. As a key manufacturing hub producing for Asia and the world, SEA’s automotive sector has grown at 11% CAGR between 2010 and 2015[1]. The upcoming implementation of Association of South-East Asian

Nations (ASEAN) Free-Trade Area is expected to lower import and export taxes in the region, further driving demand for cost-effective regionally manufactured vehicles.

UR10 Robot Arms at Nissan Motor Company Nissan Motor Company needed to streamline its production process at its large-scale Yokohama plant. The company also needed to manage labour costs with an aging workforce and the associated loss of vital skills.

Mr Nakamura, Expert Headman for the plant’s Engine Section, said: “We needed a robot large enough to carry hefty intake manifold components, weighing up to 6kgs. On comparison with other companies’ robots, we selected the UR10 due to its cost advantages for a single robot, as well as its weight capacity. In the process of installing the intake manifolds, only the UR10 robot arm had the payload of 10kg among the other products we considered.”

Universal Robots’ cobots are collaborative industrial robot arms that can automate processes and tasks that weigh up to 10 kg, and require precision and reliability.

With a reach radius of up to 1300mm, the cobots are designed to be more effective at tasks across a larger area, and can save time on production lines where distance can be a factor. Universal Robots’ cobots are easy to program and set up. They are designed to work alongside humans, as a tool, to help simplify and speed up tasks that might be complicated, or require greater physical strength. asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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ANALYSIS

ELON MUSK’S BRAVE NEW WORLD W. Rocky Newman Professor of Management, Farmer School of Business , Miami University

Elon Musk recently met with Australian government and private sector representatives to offer support for solving South Australia’s energy problems. However, we focus in this article on manufacturing electric vehicles for the masses – and at what cost. -ed.

Is Tesla, with its tightly integrated supply chain, following the strategy of another one-time dominant automaker – the Ford Motor Company – of over 100 years ago? Can it revolutionise the world by making an affordable electric car for the masses, much the way Henry Ford did with the Model T in 1908?

Henry Ford took control of his supply chain and made his own parts rather than buy from suppliers, which gave the company the scale needed to improve performance and lower costs. Now Musk is building a new “giga” battery factory, giving Tesla more control over this strategic component. Will it work out the same as for Ford?

Putting Ford in the black In his 1926 book, Today and Tomorrow, Ford claimed his integrated approach was the key to his success

(“if you want it done right, do it yourself”). In fact, he claimed to mine iron ore in Minnesota, ship it to the famous River Rouge facility in Detroit and have it sitting as a Model T in a Chicago driveway in 84 hours!

However, at the time, complete standardisation (yes, Ford is said to have stated “You could have any colour you wanted as long as it was black”) was necessary to make this happen. No options were available as they are for today’s cars, but standardisation led to lower prices.

Prior to the Model T, the typical car’s sticker price would often hit US$2,000, or almost five years of wages, which put cars out of reach for all but the rich. Working to make his car affordable, Ford sold the Model T for $260 by 1926, leading to massive market share – over 50% of the automobiles on the road worldwide were Ford’s.

Ford also paid his workers a startling $5 per day to reduce employee turnover.

Ford was right about vertical integration and combining production with engineering.

-Eion Musk

Putting folding roofs onto Model T’s in 1915: part of Henry Ford’s moving assembly line and standardised work process.

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By this time the average working household income had reached about $1,300 per year.

That put the Model T at two to four months of a typical factory worker’s

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wages, something comparable to or less than today’s economy car!

Huxley’s Brave New World and Fordism Ford’s significance can even be seen in Huxley’s classic futuristic science fiction work Brave New World from 1932. Huxley anticipated a world with intercontinental rocket plane travel and TV networks, in vitro fertilisation, cloning and genetic engineering. Huxley also saw Ford’s approach to be so central to the future that Fordism – Ford’s system of mass production – would become the primary religion!

Huxley correctly saw so many things to come, yet clearly, we don’t all worship Henry Ford today. So why did this prediction not come true? Maybe it is because not long after the book was written, the growing design complexity of cars and the demands of customers made Ford’s black-only Model T no longer competitive.

To offer multiple lines of vehicles and options, Ford’s integrated supply chain had to be broken into separate companies supplying specialised sets of products. No one company could handle it all.

Yet by the 1980s, local area networks meant computers could autonomously control machines and make multiple products from the same facility at relatively low costs. Then in the 1990s, the internet made physical proximity unnecessary for achieving economies of scale since manufacturers didn’t need to control every component in the supply chain.

What Huxley missed, in other words, was the impact of computers and IT innovations, considered one of the key facilitators to modern supply chain management.

What can Musk learn from Ford?

Let’s roll the clock ahead 100 years. Elon Musk and Tesla Motors are looking to bring the electric car to the masses much the way Ford did with the Model T. Parallels include decisions to build a “giga” factory to make batteries that are currently sourced from Panasonic in Japan, paying a premium wage to workers to reduce turnover, and planning to make an electric vehicle priced for the mass market – the upcoming Model 3.

Even model names – Tesla sells the Model S and soon the Model X – may be more than coincidental. Will it work for Tesla the way it worked for Ford? Does today’s technology allow Tesla to do even more than Ford?

The battery pack is the single most important and expensive component in an electric car. A battery can exceed $15,000 per vehicle (or $500 per kilowatt-hour.

The Nissan Leaf electric car has a 24-kilowatt-hour battery and has an average range of 84 miles.

Some industry experts believe batteries need to cost

May/June 2017

about $100 per kilowatt-hour and have almost triple the current range to be truly mass market. Achieving that sort of reduction in cost and improvement in performance comes from manufacturing at greater scale, rather than relying to suppliers.

In other words, as Tesla makes more batteries, it gains more opportunities to refine production and product design.

Ford found that out, and Tesla will as well. It plans to use most of the “giga” factory capacity in Reno, Nevada to supply Tesla’s auto assembly plant in Fremont, California, but also make batteries for utilities, homes and businesses.

Because there are common battery designs and production, Tesla will be able to transfer any product and process improvements between batteries for vehicles and the grid. Tesla estimates that they will reduce battery costs by over 30% with the “giga” factory.

Claims that Tesla with pay an average of $25 per hour in Reno have not been confirmed by the company, but the ability to retain high-calibre workers is necessary to leverage the accelerated experience that comes from scale into lower costs and improved design. Ford demonstrated that a long time ago. Tesla appears to have learned that lesson.

What will it take to be the Next Model T (or Model 3!)?

Musk’s public goal of 500,000 cars per year and a $35,000 price tag on the Model 3 will need every bit of output and resulting innovation the “giga” factory creates. Ford’s limitations in communicating along his supply chain meant very little variation in what was done or how things were done.

Today, models for left side driving, back seats big enough for customers who want a chauffeur, a third row of seats, four doors, two doors: all add volume but unfortunately bring complexity as well. Today’s computer-controlled process technology makes design variety much more scalable than in 1920. Research and practice show that now, the ability to collaborate with others (within or outside of Tesla) makes physical proximity moot as well.

Unlike Ford, Tesla can use a global supply chain to make a wide variety of products while still pursuing the cost benefits of large-scale manufacturing. At the same time, Tesla can focus on making in-house “core” components, like batteries, with high learning and innovation potential.

Henry Ford had to control it all because even a missing hubcap could stop the line. Musk can now asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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high-precision 3D measurement and comparison of parts and ANALYSIS compound structures within production and quality assurance processes.

choose to outsource the more commodity-like

The devices are used for components where the potential for process or product inspecting components and design improvement is small. assemblies, production planning, inventory documentation, as Not there yet well as for investigation and Musk has increased production from 10,000 vehicles reconstruction of accident in 2012 to a projected 50,000sites by the end of 2015. or crime scenes. They are also However, forecasts and supply issues for a variety employed to generate digital of parts (especially batteries) are causing scheduling scans of historic sites. hiccups, which has made Wall Street anxious.

With While FARO, the3D newmeasurement “giga” factory coming online in the andnext documentation can be couple of yearsneeds (and others like it) may help fulfilled confidently. a pioneer achieve many of theAs needed performance and cost andobjectives, market leader portable Tesla isinnot there yet. Here are three things computer-aided measurement, the company needs to remember to achieve its goal of FARO consistently applies mass-market electric cars: the latest advances in technology to • First, keep your eye on the core aspects of your make its industry-leading product business that define your competitive strategy. offerings more accurate, reliable, Tesla making their own batteries fits their strategy and easy to use. of a high-performance, low-cost electric car for the The focus is on simplifying masses.

Accumulating experience here moves them

workflow with tools that empower customers, thereby dramatically reducing the on-site measuring time and lowering overall costs.

toward both volume and cost goals. These are both defined criteria necessary and sufficient for strategic success.

• Second, avoid allocating resources to noncore aspects because the payback is not there. Shortages or failures in hubcaps or trunk carpeting are as much problems now for Tesla as for Ford. But you can outsource to supply chain partners far more easily now than then.

• Finally, new products or variations of existing ones should be consistent with maintaining your core competency. That is the key to transferring innovation.

If adding scale through colour choices or design combinations can add to accumulated experience in the core areas without unnecessarily adding to the burden of complexity, great!

Ford’s view on colour choice is no longer relevant. But Tesla’s Musk can still learn from Henry Ford’s strategy of making strategic components. Making batteries for home and business can help Tesla fuel more innovations in car batteries and vice versa.

Worldwide, approximately 15,000 customers are operating more than 30,000 installations of FARO’s systems. The company’s global headquarters are located in Lake Mary, Florida, with its European head office in Stuttgart, Germany and its Asia-Pacific head office in Singapore. FARO has branch locations in Japan, China, India, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, An artist’sUnited rendition of Tesla’s gigafactory under construction in Nevada which will make batteries for cars and grid Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, energy storage.

Poland, and The Netherlands. u Joseph Arezone, Senior Vice-President, Managing Director for FARO Asia Pacific

Community Planning, Sustainable Business and Waste Minimisation Strategies www.envision-nz.com

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www.asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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EVENTS

VITAFOODS ASIA 2017 WELL-POISED FOR SUCCESSFUL FIRST RUN IN SINGAPORE Vitafoods Asia, the only event dedicated to the nutraceutical, functional food and beverages, and dietary supplement industries in Asia, announces that its next edition now in Asia’s leading food and nutrition hub – Singapore – is expected to be twice as large as before.

From 5 – 6 September, the 2017 event will take place in Singapore for the first time in the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands, and will present more of the best innovations that the industry has to offer.

New City, New Opportunities The Singapore government’s efforts to grow its integrative research capabilities for food sciences, biomedical sciences, chemistry, and engineering industries in recent years have attracted investments from numerous multi-national corporations and international companies from the food industry to the island nation. The industry’s call to product innovation is keenly felt in Singapore, with top food companies – BASF, CP Kelco, DSM, Fuji, Ingredion, and Nestlé – having chosen to set up their R&D centres and regional offices in the Southeast Asian city.

Vitafoods Asia’s strategic move to Singapore further strengthens the event’s appeal, both worldwide and within the Asia Pacific region. As a well-connected global city, Singapore is accessible to 4 billion people within a 7-hour flight radius[1]. The organisers of the event expect to draw in new visitors from more parts of the world with this change in venue, catering to attendees that were unable to participate in previous editions.

The industry has responded positively to the move, and the event has attracted the participation of a strong portfolio of major manufacturers and service providers to date, including analyze & realize, AstaReal, Catalent, Gelita, Graminex, Ingredia, KSM, Lesaffre, Sabinsa, Troikaa, and Vidya Herbs.

Chris Lee, Managing Director at Informa Exhibitions’ Global Health & Nutrition Network, Europe, said, “In the last few years, Singapore has become a prominent destination of innovation for the food industry, and moving Vitafoods Asia there puts us at the heart of these activities. We’re excited that the event is garnering more interest from the nutraceutical industry this year, and attendees can expect to see a greater variety of quality ingredients, raw materials, finished products, and services from some of the best companies in the industry. The team is encouraged by the response so far, 18

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and we’re committed to delivering a better event than ever before.”

Bigger and Better Event Now into its seventh edition, Vitafoods Asia has developed a firm following within the nutraceutical industry. This year’s event will again cover four key sectors of the nutraceutical industry – Ingredients & Raw Materials, Contract Manufacturing & Private Label, Services & Equipment, and Branded Finished Products – offering the industry more focused and targeted content across all segments. Designed to facilitate business interactions, these sectors reflect the diverse nature of the nutraceutical industry and the classification helps visitors to identify exhibitors of interest with greater ease.

Attendees can look forward to viewing product and service offerings presented by a record number of more than 200 exhibitors from all over the world, as well as the most ever number of International Pavilions this year.

Visitors looking to source from specific countries can narrow their search by zooming in on the 10 pavilions – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and USA. Apart from gaining access to the latest innovations as well as networking opportunities, visitors can expect to learn about the latest industry trends and acquire new knowledge from experts at Vitafoods Asia through various attractions, such as the Vitafoods Asia Conference, Global Market Theatre, Inspiration Showcase, and Tasting Bar. Lee concluded, “The relocation may be a significant change, but what will remain is the event’s reputation as a quality platform with ample sourcing, networking, and education opportunities, all which the industry has come to expect and appreciate. We look forward to meeting the industry’s best in Singapore this September.”

For more information on Vitafoods Asia, visit www.vitafoodsasia.com.

IOT

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

INDUSTRIAL IOT GOES MAINSTREAM IN 2017

By Greg Gorbach and Bob Gill

Welcome to 2017, the year when Industrial IoT (IIoT) goes mainstream. The pieces have been falling into place for some time now, a trend that accelerated in the last half of 2016 and will certainly characterise 2017.

We saw a lot of progress in 2016, notably, a much improved understanding of IIoT architectures, security requirements, platforms, sensors and devices, analytics, and open systems. It was also a year when automation suppliers, service providers, and software companies laid the groundwork for success by building IIoT products and services for the industrial market.

Now that many of them have reached critical mass, and can not only talk about, but actually deliver real solutions, we expect to see even more activity as IIoT goes mainstream.

So let’s take a closer look at some of the factors that have brought us to this point and will be strong drivers for 2017

Industrial Analytics & Machine Learning One of the big factors driving the market is the maturation of advanced industrial analytics solutions.

There is a growing recognition throughout the industrial space that machine learning or artificial intelligence has reached the point where it can deliver real operational improvements in production.

The same underlying technologies also can enable new business models and services based on smart, connected products.

Still, there is still a fair amount of confusion here, because while new means for solving problems are being offered, often by new market entrants and entrepreneurs, end users are still trying to understand how they work.

Solutions are being dubbed predictive and prescriptive, offered as applications and platforms, and marketed with a mix of confusing terms such as adaptive algorithms, cognitive analysis, data models,

machine learning, and many more.

Meanwhile, solution providers are grappling with pricing, sales cycles, service levels, deployment models, and roadmaps. And investors, such as venture capital firms, are pushing solution providers to maximize a return on investment, which can lead to pursuing markets and use cases for which they are not completely prepared.

All of these dynamics are clearly evident in the advanced analytics market. Despite the confusion, users are making significant strides in absorbing the complexity and will put the technology to use in 2017.

From Cloud to Industrial Edge In the first wave of IIoT solutions, a somewhat simplistic idea of the IIoT architecture prevailed, which focused on connectivity of devices and analytics in the cloud. But by the end of 2016, a more robust view in which computing and analytics is deployed at the edge and in the cloud. ARC’s Chantal Polsonetti has been doing some great research on the industrial edge and will continue to do so in 2017.

An emphasis on bringing higher-level, typically cloud-based functionality to the edge, as well as support of device-to-cloud integration, are primary differentiators between edge computing and today’s control and HMI environment.

Edge or fog computing strategies rely on microprocessor-based devices with standard operating systems capable of hosting applications that can be executed at the edge. How much edge processing to move to network edge devices is still under discussion and varies by customer profile.

Cloud Application Platforms and Ecosystems Cloud application platforms provide a modern approach for developing and deploying software asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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IOT applications. The approach is gradually displacing the older client/server model, in which large complex, monolithic applications were created and run. In industrial companies, the client/server model came to dominate both the IT and the OT software spaces in recent decades.

The pace of this changeover is accelerating, however, as more and more companies embrace the modern platform approach. This has also sparked a platform v. platform competition in the marketplace, with large suppliers seeking to have the dominant platform ecosystem and the broadest library of third-party applications, and with smaller suppliers trying to figure out just how they should compete in the emerging environment.

Asset Performance Management Improving asset performance can lead to greater efficiencies in two main areas: improving production performance and offering new business models and services based on smart, connected products.

One of the most promising areas for substantial change is asset performance management (APM), and it’s no surprise to find a lot of solutions focused on predictive maintenance, asset analytics, and asset management. There are opportunities to better utilize assets, coordinate with operating and business needs, improve the availability of replacement parts, and improve the efficiency of field service groups.

Equipment manufacturers are rapidly adopting IIoT to offer asset health monitoring and predictive maintenance subscriptions for new sources of aftermarket revenue.

IIoT in the Oil & Gas Industry At ARC we’re always asked about use cases for IIoT, and we’ve been collecting many examples across many industry segments and publishing these on our Industrial IoT/Industrie 4.0 Viewpoints blog.

ARC analysts Tim Shea and Peter Reynolds have written many posts that feature specific examples in the oil and gas sector, and we expect that this activity will only increase in 2017, as companies gain experience in using IIoT to transform various aspects of their business.

For instance, recent ARC Advisory Group research indicates that investment in oilfield operations management systems (OOMS) can provide significant operational value and ROI. We forecast more robust demand from applications that can leverage the power of IIoT-enabled solutions such as advanced analytics 20

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and simulation tools to help lower costs and boost production.

IIoT-enabled OOMS solutions that can help automate workflows and improve productivity are also expected to be in greater demand as companies struggle to increase production with fewer employees, especially those who are more experienced and possess deep domain expertise.

Network Communications As telcos look towards to the Internet of Things as the next driver of data traffic growth, network equipment suppliers such as Ericsson, Huawei and others are developing technologies to meet emerging standards, notably NB-IoT and LTE-M, for efficiently connecting things rather than people on cellular networks.

Furthermore, the ramp-up in speed and performance that goes with the next evolution (commercial roll-out anticipated in the 2020 timeframe) of the cellular story, 5G, brings with it increased relevance for IIoT. The extremely low latency of one millisecond (versus about 25 ms for 4G) makes 5G viable for critical industrial applications – such as cloud robotics – involving control rather than just monitoring.

Meanwhile, in the unlicensed spectrum, the two major LPWAN (Power Wide Area Network proponents, LoRa Alliance and Sigfox, offer technology for connecting low-cost, battery-operated sensors over long distances.

Singapore is set to see the first Sigfox deployment in Asia this year, and the network is expected to play a useful role in the context of the country’s Smart Nation initiative.

Just the Beginning A host of large software and automation suppliers to industrial companies have developed real products and services to offer their customers. Global service providers and system integrators have built IIoT practices and focused on digitization.

And many industrial segments – including oil & gas, chemicals, heavy equipment, utilities, food and beverage, aerospace & defense, and others – are primed for more and better IIoT solutions and looking for opportunities for digital transformation.

So expect to see a lot of IIoT/I4.0 projects get kicked off this year, but keep in mind that it’s only the beginning! *Greg Gorbach is Vice President, Information-Driven Manufacturing, and Bob Gill is General, Manager, Southeast Asia, are from ARC Advisory Group (www.arcweb.com).

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

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NEW PRODUCTS

EARTH GROUND AND AC LEAKAGE CLAMP DELIVERS FAST LEAKAGE TESTS Testing the grounding components of equipment by disconnecting parallel grounds and finding suitable locations for auxiliary ground stakes can be dangerous and time-consuming.

With the new Fluke 1630-2 FC Stakeless Earth Ground Clamp, electricians and maintenance technicians can measure earth ground loop resistances for multi-grounded systems using only the dual-clamp jaw, so measurements can be taken quickly and safely without having to expose conductors.

The clamp automatically records data at pre-set intervals and saves up to 32,760 measurements in memory at the set logging intervals. Its heavyduty clamp jaw is designed to stay in alignment and calibration even in the harshest industrial environments.

Fluke Connect The 1630-2 FC is part of Fluke Connect — a system of more than 40 wireless test tools that

communicate via the Fluke Connect app, or Fluke Connect Assets software, a cloud-based solution that gathers measurements to provide a comprehensive view of critical equipment status.

This allows technicians to view, record, and share measurements from the clamp in real time via their smartphones or tablets and automatically upload them to Fluke Cloud storage along with tags and the GPS location of assets.

The clamp is also available in a non-Fluke Connect model. *Fluke Connect (FC) is only available in Singapore

POINTSENSE 18.0 SUITE FOR CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURE FARO, world source for 3D measurement and imaging solutions for factory metrology, construction BIM/CIM, product design, public safety forensics, and 3D solutions, announces the availability of the FARO PointSense 18.0 software suite (http://www.faro.com/ aecsoftware18-0/).

This robust software platform evolution delivers seamless integration into the latest 2018 AutoCAD and Revit design tools, a better user experience, improved software handling, and enhanced efficiency in processing software data.

The suite includes: • PointSense basic/Pro for AutoCAD • PointSense Building for AutoCAD • PointSense Heritage for AutoCAD • PointSense Plant for AutoCAD • PointSense for Revit The one stop bundle and compatibility across the broad range of Autodesk architecture, engineering, construction and surveying products makes this the most cost effective solution of its kind currently available.

Seamless Integration and Enhanced User Experience PointSense 18.0 resets the bar for “ready to go”. It includes the same high value, beneficial use features 22

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and functionality with which savvy AutoCAD and Revit users are already familiar. The addition of a new, step by step guidance screen assures that even less familiar users can get up to speed quickly and optimize their workflow.

Improved Confidence in Accuracy PointSense 18.0 for Revit is the first software platform to incorporate Levels of Accuracy as defined USBID (U.S. Institute of Building Documentation) standards.

This enhanced analysis tool enables users to more confidently validate the accuracy of the as-built model compared to the relevant point cloud, i.e. the set of data points acquired by a 3D laser scanner.

Workflow Enhancement The improvement in scan navigation functionality was driven by direct user feedback, supports greater efficiency and assures that the user is able to get to a result faster than ever before. With just a double click, users can move from one scan perspective to another inside a given point cloud.

“We continue to push forward in our commitment to creating even more value for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction market segments,” states Andreas Gerster, Vice President Global Construction BIM-CIM business unit.

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

RIGPL – INDIA AT MTA VIETNAM

RIGPL-India invites your team to visit their stall at MTA, Vietnam’17 from 4th to 7th July’2017 in Ho-Chi-Minh City.

Place Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center

SECC), District 7, Ho-Chi-Minh City Stall C3-12 | Hall : C Time 10AM to 7PM Date 4th - 7th July, 2017 The company has helpped reduce drilling and milling costs of more than 5,000+ Auto, Aerospace, Spring, Die-mould and other manufacturing industry worldwide and is looking for Distributors in Vietnam during their visit. You can visit them at www.rigpl.com

BAIDU ADVANCES AI IN THE CLOUD WITH LATEST NVIDIA PASCAL GPUS NVIDIA has announced that its deep learning platform is now available as part of Baidu Cloud’s deep learning service, giving enterprise customers instant access to the world’s most adopted AI tools.

The new Baidu Cloud offers the latest GPU computing technology, including Pascal architecture-based NVIDIA Tesla®P40 GPUs and NVIDIA deep learning software. It provides both training and inference acceleration for open-source deep learning frameworks, such as TensorFlow and PaddlePaddle.

“Baidu and NVIDIA are long-time partners in advancing the state of the art in AI,” said Ian Buck, general manager of Accelerated Computing at NVIDIA. “Baidu understands that enterprises need GPU computing to process the massive volumes of data needed for deep learning. Through Baidu Cloud, companies can quickly convert data into insights that lead to breakthrough products and services.”

“Our partnership with NVIDIA has long provided Baidu with a competitive advantage,” said Shiming Yin, vice president and general manager of Baidu Cloud Computing. “Baidu Cloud Service powered by NVIDIA’s deep learning software and Pascal GPUs will help our customers accelerate their deep learning training and inference, resulting in faster time to market for a new generation of intelligent products and applications.”

NVIDIA’s deep learning platform is the world’s most adopted platform for building AI services.

All key deep learning frameworks are accelerated

on NVIDIA’s platform, which is available from leading cloud service providers worldwide, including Alibaba, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.

Organisations ranging from startups to leading multinationals are taking advantage of GPUs in the cloud to achieve faster results without massive capital expenditures or complexity of managing the infrastructure.

Organisations are increasingly turning to GPU computing to develop advanced applications in areas such as natural language processing, traffic analysis, intelligent customer service, personalised recommendations and understanding video.

The massively efficient parallel processing capabilities of GPUs make NVIDIA’s platform highly effective at accelerating a host of other data-intensive workloads, from AI and deep learning to advanced analytics to high performance computing.

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DEVELOPMENTS

VEOLIA WINS €156 MILLION CONTRACT FOR DRINKING WATER ACCESS IN SRI LANKA By winning a €156 million contract from the Sri Lankan National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Veolia, through its subsidiaries OTV and SADE, will help provide access to water on a large scale in the Greater Matale area Located in Sri Lanka’s Central Province, some 150 kilometers from the capital, Colombo, Greater Matale is a predominantly agricultural region. Veolia, through its subsidiary OTV, has just been appointed project manager for the construction of five new water treatment plants in the region along with 12 service reservoirs, five pumping stations and more 430 km of transmission and distribution pipes.

This system will ensure drinking water quality and secure supply for more than 350,000 people.

Clarification, settling and filtration, the Matale (30,000 m3/d), Ambanganga (18,000 m3/d), Ukuwela, Udatenna and Rattotta (9,000 m3/d each) water treatment plants will incorporate the Veolia solutions and technology that best suit local conditions.

Another Veolia subsidiary, SADE will act as subcontractor to design and build the 433 km transmission and distribution network.

This contract was made possible with the support of local French government services through a financial scheme combining export credit from a syndicate of banks (CACIB, Natixis, Unicredit and BNP Paribas), with a guarantee from the French Ministry of Finance and a local commercial loan from HNB bank and treasury bonds.

Access to water is a key factor in the growth of cities, their citizens and their economy. Veolia is deeply rooted and involved in Asia-Pacific where they have built more than 250 drinking water and wastewater treatment plants in the last 20 years.

NEC AND ENSPIREME TO BUILD EUROPE’S LARGEST BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM NEC Corporation and NEC Energy Solutions, an NEC subsidiary, have reached an agreement with Germany-based EnspireMe, a fifty-fifty joint venture established between Mitsubishi Corporation and Eneco, a Netherlands-based integrated energy company, to build a large-scale battery energy storage system in Jardelund, Germany.

The system is scheduled to begin operating in December 2017, with a power capacity of 48 MW and a storage capacity of over 50 MWh, which will be the largest stationary type system in Europe.

EnspireMe will utilize this battery energy storage system to supply sustainable reserve capacity to balance the European electricity grid. Mitsubishi Corporation and Eneco will also start a pilot project involving the storage of locally produced surplus wind energy.

The European Union (EU), as a leader in alternative energy initiatives, has set a goal of meeting 20 percent 24

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of energy consumption within its member states through renewable energy by 2020.

In Germany, where renewable energy has been actively introduced to provide a large, stable volume of energy to electric power systems, a market has already been established for ancillary services that maintain electric power quality, including frequency and voltage, in electric power systems.

“The market for battery energy storage systems is expected to grow significantly with the expansion of the renewable energy market. Leveraging this large-scale project in Germany, the leading market for the introduction of renewable energy, and NEC’s comprehensive battery energy storage know-how, we aim to globally expand the business of battery energy storage systems,” said Michihiro Ezawa, General Manager, ESS Division, NEC Corporation.

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DEVELOPMENTS

EFACEC HANDLING SOLUTIONS

IS NOW CONSOVEYO

Consoveyo S.A. (Consoveyo), a global leading expert for automated material handling and storage systems, today officially announces its name change. Formerly known as Efacec Handling Solutions S.A. (EHS), Consoveyo previously belonged to the Efacec Group, the largest Portuguese corporation in the field of electromechanics and electronics, with a strong presence across various international markets.

Acquired by the international technology group, Körber AG, Consoveyo has been part of the Group’s Business Area Logistics Systems since September 2015. All subsidiaries under the company in Europe and Asia will now bear its new name. In Southeast Asia, Consoveyo Singapore Pte. Ltd. will continue to provide automated systems support to its customers in the region.

Alluding to the Portuguese words, ‘aconselhar’ (for consulting), ‘consenso’ (for consent), and ‘consolidar’ (for strengthening and reinforcing), Consoveyo pays homage to the company’s origins in Porto, Portugal, and underlines the company’s competencies and engineering expertise. Consoveyo is also associated to the word ‘convey’ in English, which describes the act of transporting products, communicating, and advising.

The new name aims to bind Consoveyo together with the other brand names within the Business Area 26

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Logistics Systems, to achieve better synergy within the Körber Group.

With more than 30 years of experience, Consoveyo is a global leader for automated material handling and storage systems. The company will continue to supply its customers in Europe and Asia with automated systems for intralogistics.

“The name change symbolizes an important milestone of our integration into the Business Area Logistics Systems and the Körber Group,” Jorge Couto, Chief Sales Officer at Consoveyo, explained.

“Being part of this economically strong and successful Group provides Consoveyo with sustainable and comprehensive future growth prospects - both as a business and as an employer.

Our staff are excited about the prospects of this new chapter, where we can leverage on the Group’s international customer network, technologies, and the know-how of our sister companies within the Körber Logistics Systems, all while giving back by supporting them with Consoveyo’s solutions and business relations.”

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

www.10thousandtrees.com

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DEVELOPMENTS

ROBOTICS COMPANY COMPLETE PACKAGE FOR SE ASIAN FOOD INDUSTRY Packaging robots from Australia fitted with cameras to allow remote troubleshooting are helping to streamline South East Asia’s surging food and beverage industry.

HMPS, based in Adelaide, South Australia, is one of and has grown by almost 30 per cent in the past three the largest automation manufacturers in the country. years.

It designs and develops bespoke machines to fill It is in the process of developing other niche products specific industry needs, including packaging, organising, including machines with Internet of Things (IoT) weighing and x-raying materials to ensure there are no technology to further improve its remote servicing. foreign substances.

The company is trialling the technology in Australia HMPS machines are being been used in a number of and plans to roll it out to its international clients if it countries in South East Asia including the Philippines, proves successful.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. It also has machines “We are developing a way in which the customer and operating across Australia, South Africa and New us would be able to monitor performance and put in Zealand. preventative procedures during production,” Bui (right) The company won the Export Achievement Award at said. the 2015 Auspack Awards for their unique dual-function “For example, if you’re looking after multiple sites, machine they supplied Nestlé in South Africa. The you would be able to monitor the situations on your device processes sachets of food into boxes and trays mobile or tablet while you are traveling, and make sure simultaneously. the machines in the factories are working how they HMPS Business Development Manager Linh Bui said should.” its base location in Adelaide made it ideally placed HMPS will showcase its machines in Thailand in June, to service South East Asia because of time-zone at ProPak Asia 2017. similarities and geographical proximity.

ProPak is Asia’s largest processing and packaging He said the region’s rising middle-class growth and event and this year’s show will feature more than 1200 the expansion of its food and beverage industries exhibitors from more than 20 countries. had created demand for effective packaging systems.

“We provide a whole gamut of turnkey products for packaging food and drinks,” he said.

“We provide remote monitoring options for our products where we include a modem and camera on the machine.

“As soon as we get a phone call we can review footage and identify what the problem is and where it occurred and work with the customer to resolve it quite quickly.”

HMPS has more than The HMPS5000 Wraparound Case Packer was designed and built by HMPS for a South Australian food 300 machines in the field company. It is used for the packing of plastic tubs.

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MOVING THE GOALPOSTS

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

INSIDE CHINA’S PLANS FOR

WORLD ROBOT DOMINATION Some 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles) to the north, inside a lab at Beijing-based e-commerce giant JD.com Inc., a spider-like robot plunges down from its frame, seizes a book on a conveyor belt with its suctioned claws and hurls it into a crate.

The machine can sort 3,600 objects an hour, four times as many as a person -- just one piece of the robotic technology the company’s developing to automate warehouses.

China is embracing robotics with the same full-on intensity that’s made it a force in high-speed rail and renewable energy. Beijing economic planners view it as a stepping stone to a broader strategic goal: dominating emerging markets for artificial intelligence, driver-less vehicles and digitally-connected appliances and homes.

“China has a great history of being an effective fast follower,” said Colin Angle, chief executive officer of Bedford, Massachusetts-based vacuum and defense robot maker iRobot Corp. “The question will be “‘Can they innovate?’”

Standing in the way are established robotics superpowers like Japan, South Korea, Germany and the U.S. Yet China has three big advantages--scale, growth momentum and money. It’s home to the world’s fastest-growing robotics market and vast manufacturing sector where companies are under pressure to automate.

China overtook Japan in 2013 in unit sales domestically. Guangdong province, for example,

announced in 2015 plans to offer 943 billion yuan ($137 billion) in subsidies to about 2,000 local companies, including both robot makers and those making autos, home appliances, and construction materials, that are looking to automate their plants.

That creates a big opening for Chinese start-ups.

“The mantle of leadership is wide open,” said Justin Rose, a partner and manufacturing expert with Boston Consulting Group in Chicago. “China has the ability to rise to prominence.”

To get there, China has a two-pronged strategy.

President Xi Jinping’s government wants local industrial robotics makers like E-Deodar Robot Equipment Co., Anhui Efort Intelligent Equipment Co., and Siasun Robot & Automation Co. to take on foreign players including Japan’s Fanuc Corp. or California-based Adept Technology Inc. for leadership in the $11 billion market.

Chinese corporate demand is expected to power double-digit demand for factory bots, according to Gudrun Litzenberger, General Secretary of the International Federation of Robotics.

In 2016, China installed 90,000 new robots. That’s one-third of the world total and 30 percent more than the year before.

Yet China’s ambitions go beyond factory robots that bolt and weld. Earlier this year, officials deployed a pollution-monitoring robot in the Zhengzhou East Railway Station, one of China’s busiest, and a Chinese deep-sea robot broke a new record, descending to 6,329 asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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MOVING THE GOALPOSTS meters (21,000 feet) in the Mariana Trench in March. Xi, who in 2014 called for a “robot revolution,” was greeted by a droid when he visited a top science academy in Anhui province last year.

Right now, China lags rival nations when it comes to robot adoption. China had only 49 robots per 10,000 workers in 2015, versus 176 for the U.S., Germany’s 301 and South Korea’s world-leading 531. Yet if China’s robot build-out succeeds, it may be able to stanch the flow of factories moving overseas.

Under a sweeping proposal called “Made in China 2025,” as well as a five-year robot plan launched last April, Beijing plans to focus on automating key sectors of the economy including car manufacturing, electronics, home appliances, logistics, and food production.

At the same time, the government wants to increase the share of indigenous-branded robots in China to more than 50 percent of total sales volume by 2020 from 31 percent last year.

Robot makers and the companies that automate will be eligible for subsidies, low-interest loans, tax waivers, and rent-free land.

Industrial automation is crucial for China, home to an aging population and shrinking labor force.

Manufacturing wages have more than doubled in the last decade. Also, younger Chinese workers, “don’t want to do repetitive work,” said James Li, President of ABB

Robotics China, the local unit of Switzerland’s ABB Ltd. and one of the first robot companies to set up in China.

It supplies machines that spray paint cars and man electronics assembly lines. “Robotics is hot,” said Li, who notes that local governments are investing heavily in industrial parks to develop the technology.

The Chinese productivity push is being watched with trepidation by global competitors. “They’re putting a lot of money and a lot of effort into automation and robotics in China. There’s nothing keeping them from coming after our market,” said John Roemisch, vice-president of sales and marketing for Fanuc America Corp.

Demand for robots in China is clear enough. Less certain is whether Chinese robotics companies have the tech savvy to compete globally. Lured by tax breaks and cheap land, some 800 Chinese robotics companies have set up shop.

Trouble is, some startups buy key components from Siemens or Fanuc, put them in a robot shell with an arm, and then slap on a Chinese brand name, says Chai Yueting, director of the National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies at Tsinghua University.

“China has lots of robot companies. But their technology often is from the Japan or U.S.,” said Chai.

“China’s own specific robot technology is still very limited.”

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PRODUCTIVITY

Asia Manufacturing News

May/June 2017

ZERO-GRAVITY ARMS RECOGNISED BY LEADING SE ASIA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Headquartered in Hong Kong, Gammon Construction is one of SE Asia’s leading construction companies, with an annual turnover of US$2.5bn, and is a keen adopter of new technology with a focus on adding value for its customers through innovative and sustainable solutions.

With over 8000 employees, the engineering and construction company, like others in the Hong Kong construction industry, has long faced manpower shortages, together with an aging workforce.

Consequently, in an effort to lure talented new workers and to reduce the workload of its employees, the company recently invested in two sets of “zero-gravity arms” (Zero G Tool Arms) from Sigma Ergonomics, one of Australia’s leading providers of ergonomic systems to a wide range of industries.

Manufactured by US company Ekso Bionics, the innovative mounted exoskeletal system functions without the need for power, allowing workers to comfortably operate heavy tools including impact drills, chipping hammers and grinders for extended periods.

With the zero-gravity arms shouldering the weight of the equipment, workers are not affected by the strain and fatigue caused by repetitive tasks such as drilling, tiling, chipping and grinding.

The Ekso Bionics Aerial System, to which the Zero G system is mounted, is designed to increase safety and productivity while working from an elevated work platform (EWP).

As well as eliminating the risk of dropping heavy tools from heights, the system significantly reduces the risk of injury from heavy tool usage and awkward body position.

In a recent direct comparison with an Access Work Platform (AWP) at a height services installation, the Zero G system improved the productivity of the drilling work task by over 50% while reducing worker fatigue and improving safety and efficiency.

Thomas Ho, Chief Executive of Gammon Construction, is a passionate supporter of innovation and highlights the Zero G system as one of the latest innovations introduced into his organisation.

Andy Wong, Gammon Construction’s Innovation manager, explained that the Ekso Bionics Aerial Systems has been successfully deployed at a construction site

of a data centre in Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O district and at a transport terminus in Kowloon, with very positive feedback from workers and their managers.

Tony Brooks, director of Sigma Ergonomics explained that Ekso Bionics has spent several years designing and perfecting a range of ergonomic tool arms which are used to weightlessly manoeuvre heavy tools.

“Already proven across the world, the arms rely on spring tension and an innovative design to balance the weight of tools used in drilling, sanding, riveting and many other applications.

“The Ekso Bionics Zero G arms are designed to hold tool payloads of up to 19kg and fully balance the weight thus allowing the user to freely, safely and accurately manoeuvre the load in any direction without injury or fatigue.”

Requiring less than 30 minutes of operator training to achieve competency, Mr Brooks explained that the ergonomic tool arms have a variety of mounting options to suit the application including portable gantries, carts, jib arms and linear rails.

“As well, these systems require very little maintenance, no expensive inputs like electricity or compressed air, and have already been successfully used in a variety of industries from aerospace and defence to automotive manufacturing.

With Ekso Bionics’ innovative exoskeleton technology, workers can now complete heavy hand tool tasks with less fatigue, better workmanship and fewer workplace injuries. Plus companies often enjoy a high ROI, sometimes less than a year, making the decision to invest that much easier. asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • FEBRUARY 2014

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