The future of manufacturing in an ever-changing world
In the current economic conditions, Australian manufacturers are facing multiple challenges including speed to market, production flexibility, labour availability and skills, supply chains, input costs, and also opportunities to develop new products, and new markets. Technologies such as automation, robotics and machine learning AI are providing solutions to many of the challenges, whilst also providing the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing market needs.
At AE Gibson & Sons we have, for over 100 years, designed and manufactured special purpose machinery for our customers – who use Gibson machinery and technology in their manufacturing and processing facilities to produce goods for their own markets.
Gibson machinery is legendary, widely recognised for its high quality, and built tough for long term reliability. In recent years we realised that our machinery also needed to be smarter and more flexible to support the changing needs of our customers to support their goals – that’s where automation and robotics has made an enormous impact on our business, and for our customers, making their operations more efficient, productive, and safe.
We have assisted many manufacturers to develop manufacturing methods and processes using automation, robotics, advanced sensing, and machine learning AI. Many of our Gibson machines and automated systems are focussed on manufacturing tasks that may be difficult, dirty, or dangerous for humans to perform. If we can automate those tough tasks, it provides manufacturers an opportunity to redeploy staff onto higher value-add activities, increasing overall capacity and flexibility to address new customers and new markets. The benefits also flow into reduced WHS incidents, and more fulfilling work for your biggest assets – your people. We recently helped a manufacturer of timber panels to use robots for the handling and stacking of the heavy panels, freeing up the process workers to now be deployed elsewhere in the plant for the high value finishing processes of the timber panels.
Before – Manual lifting and stacking of heavy timber
After – robots do the heavy lifting
Modern robots can also work alongside human employees. Rather than replacing their human counterparts, Industrial robots are now also working in collaboration with people to perform many supportive tasks. The Cobots work collaboratively with humans to enable the workers to be more effective, productive and safe.
In a very recent development, we have also engineered new machine learning AI based technologies to identify production issues and defects, and to improve the accuracy and efficacy of production processes. In a recent example we were able to use a smart sensor system to look for defects on products being processed at high speed (something that is very difficult for a human to see). The machine learning AI software was taught with examples of good and no-good products, and is now able to automatically identify the defects, and eject the bad products from the process.
A common misconception and a legacy from decades past, is that automation and robotics is complex and expensive. Nowadays automation and robotic technologies are in widespread use by manufacturers due to their lower costs and ease of implementation. Choosing a reputable and experienced engineering partner is also an important step in successfully introducing new technology to your production processes. Another key consideration is managing the education and training of your staff to adapt to, and embrace the positive changes that automation will bring to your manufacturing operations.
Successful Australian manufacturers are known for their innovation and ability to adapt to change and new market opportunities. New technologies such as automation, robotics, and machine learning AI, are key enablers for manufacturers to adapt quickly to the ever changing world we live in.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you with your next manufacturing project.