Preface
As an excellent and advanced person in the printing, packaging, and post-press equipment related industries, the content of the last issue of The 5 major changes of AI and IT to the printing industry Part 1, does it bring some help or reference direction for you to know AI or whether IT to the changes in our printing industry? Some customers have thanked us for providing them with some of the planning direction basis for this year; some customers said that some of the AI and IT projects we mentioned have been completed the other day and have really brought tangible benefits to themselves. I believe you can’t wait to see what impacts, changes, and predictable benefits AI and IT will bring to production, R&D and finance. Without further ado, let’s jump right into this!
1. Production orientation
In today’s era of information technology development, I believe that your company should already have the most basic ERP (Enterprise resource planning ) system in production or daily operations, of course, unless it is a listed company or medium and large enterprises, they will use the world-renowned ERP software such as SAP or Oracle, otherwise at least there will be ERP software designed by local software manufacturers to meet the general production and operation process needs of enterprises. But ordinary ERP software is not an AI, or IT construction that can surpass other competitors, it can only be said to be a very basic IT infrastructure project. As for production, what AI or new IT projects can improve the competitive advantage of enterprises? The editor helps you list as follows:
1.1 Preventive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is a strategy,
It is necessary to continuously monitor the condition of the equipment and predict the remaining service life under normal operating conditions.
While reactive and preventive maintenance can help reduce or simply prevent breakdowns,
But predictive maintenance uses models to predict when a specific asset will experience component failure.
This also significantly reduces downtime and helps to schedule maintenance in advance.
In the case of SBL Machinery,
The new generation of models with preventive maintenance function (SBL 1060SCB),
It will be accumulated according to the actual number of high-speed operation hours that the customer has (low-speed small amount of paper test and standby hours will be excluded)
When the system determines that the machine has reached the time that need to be maintained,
Automatically via the HMI or E-mail,
Remind the user that he should carry out the maintenance or replacement of spare parts of that machine.
1.2 Network remote maintenance
When early production machines malfunction,
It takes tens of hours or days to wait until the original master arrives and repair,
But that kind of days are over.
At present, if the printing related machine is abnormal or malfunctioning,
This failure is not when mechanical parts or electronic equipment need to be replaced.
The original factory can be connected through the network,
Know the current PLC program settings or machine parameter settings and fault codes,
It can quickly eliminate many faults due to PLC program, machine parameter setting, and improper adjustment,
First, it can greatly reduce maintenance costs and shorten maintenance timeliness.
Second, it can even be more convenient and low-cost,
Carry out educational service training for online operation teaching between the original factory and the client.
PS：SBL Machinery three models of sbl can be equipped with this function(Die cutting ,Foil stamping,Folder gluer)
1.3 AI visual inspection system for parts quality inspection
In the previous blog post 10 Selection Indicators That Machinery Manufacturers Won’t Disclose (Part 1),
In addition to mentioning the reasons for the excellent quality of machinery in Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Italy and other countries,
Quality assurance in manufacturing industry is based on AI visual inspection system,
Automated inspection throughout the production process is a breakthrough.
First, early contact measuring equipment will have inherent size restrictions, (cannot measure large components)
The second is today’s high-tech artificial intelligence visual inspection equipment system,
It can quickly and easily measure product size, volume, tolerance and detect appearance defect.
The editor secretly revealed a secret,
SBL Machinery manufactures high-precision, high-durability machinery and equipment that many companies appreciate.
In fact, hundreds of thousands of dollars have already been invested in the purchase of such equipment.
Carry out quality inspection of relevant key parts.
1.4 AI visual inspection system for quality inspection of printed products
If a printing factory or post-press processing manufacturer,
Want to determine whether the printed product meets the standards of the finished product,
In the early days, all printed matter had to be inspected manually.
This is a man-intensive project that often involves human error or error in judgment,
Now, with the help of AI, manpower can be greatly reduced and the accuracy of judgment can be improved. (More than 99.9% accuracy)
Take SBL Machinery‘s folder-gluer with AI vision inspection and defect shaving mechanism as an example, (this function is an optional feature)
Sandard Image Data will be built by taking pictures through the lens,
When the paper surface passes through the machine, it will be compared with the Sandard Data built into the system,
Cooperate with the signal of the detection system to shave the defective product.
https://vimeo.com/730287264/e4a999a988
1.5 Intelligent manufacturing
The needs of end customers and market trends in this era,
It has been from based on “manufacturer” in the early days, and a large number of standardized manufacturing needs,
Rapidly change to flexible and customized production based on “consumers or customers” to meet different needs.
Take SBL Machinery as an example,
After years of multi-system construction and optimization of “production timesheet”, “modularization of production materials”, and “digitalization of production procedures”,
When the order comes in, the system can immediately according to the detailed specifications and quantity of the order,
Automatic output “production scheduling” and extremely accurate “instant estimated delivery date”,
Even if it is a customized size model that is completely out of stock in the original factory,
It can take at least 90 days to deliver,
Greatly shorten to 30~40 days to delivery. (The system will automatically calculate the instant pre-delivery date.)
2. R&D orientation
The R&D department can be said to be one of the core lifeblood of the company, and it is also a key department in which many companies will invest a high proportion of funds, and for the research and development of printing, packaging, and post-press equipment industries, are there any AI or new IT project that can help enhance the company’s competitive advantage? The editor help you list as follows:
2.1 PDM (Product Data Management)
For post-press equipment factories,
A system is required to effectively manage CAD file drawings for all devices,
In the past, for companies who were lack of PDM software system equipment,
The most common problem is that the same image file stores the latest (final) version.
It is not possible to record the history of different versions and the reasons for modification.
As a result, the problem of picking incorrect versions or reasons for modification are often unexplained often happen.
The functions and benefits of PDM systems are as follows:
- Ensure the correctness of the file
- Maintain file relevance
- Ensure file security
- Material management and product structure management
- Visual management
- Workflow management
2.2 AI-Generated Art
For printing and packaging companies, designing the cover for customers or graphic design is one of the necessary works, and there are already such special AIs such as DALL-E for creation. The company only needs to understand and communicate the customer’s design theory and needs, and can quickly use AI to produce work, drastically reduce the designer’s working time, and produce more sample works at high speed for customers to choose.
2.3 Chart-GPT in the 3D CAD world
Manish Kumar, the current CEO of France’s SolidWorks, a world-renowned 3D drawing company, said that they have begun to develop “ChatGPT” in the design world, and it really can’t be achieved overnight. Kumar also stressed that the plan is still under development and cannot be promised. He also proposed three stages that generative design technology must go through before reaching this level of technology.
Phase 1: Provide physical limitations or characteristics and make various changes
For example, the designer proposes a parametric modeling of AI, requiring AI to optimize the materials and structure of the existing design under certain conditions. This technique generates a design with appearance features that are not far from the original design model. Dassault Systèmes already has a product for this technology phase, that is, the topology optimization.
Phase 2: Generate designs with different appearance characteristics based on design intent
Dassault Systèmes is currently at this stage of development. Design intent refers to the relationship between key objects, such as the distance between screw holes, relative absolute position, or size scale. When changing design appearance features, the design intent must be considered so as not to cause design failure. Most of the time, design intent defines the functionality of a product or the part, but design features do not. For example, the size of the cap and body junction determines whether the cap can be closed, but no matter how the size, shape, color, material, or other characteristics of the cap are changed, it usually does not affect whether the cap can be closed.
Phase 3: Add existing components to the build consideration
Generative design is often linked to 3D printing because AI-generated designs are often far from existing part shapes. Manish Kumar said that generative design based on existing parts can not only make the design easier to put into production but also greatly reduce the waste of materials and parts, and even use common recycled parts as the basis for generative design, further achieving the purpose of sustainable design.
2.4 Design analysis simulation software
In the early days, when the institution designed the useful life and easy-damaged parts of the machine, it required human judgment and design by the experienced R&D engineers of the industry, but now through many design analysis simulation software, the following analysis and simulation can be carried out first, so as to greatly reduce the company’s new design development schedule and incorrect manufacturing costs:
2.4.1 Finite element analysis
Predict product performance through linear, nonlinear, thermal and dynamic analysis. Optimize designs and validate product behavior before manufacturing.
2.4.2 Compute fluid dynamics
Accurate and flexible software can be used for fluid dynamics, thermal management, and airflow analysis. Analyze and make decisions early in the product development process.
2.4.3 Composite materials
Design laminates and reduce the number of tests and weight by simulating composites. Use simple structural solutions to simulate laminate and component behavior.
3. Financial orientation
To ensure that the company generates long-term sales, businesses need a form of financial management. Implementing systems to track all revenue streams is important for organizations to help support data that supports key financial decisions and effectively allocate resources and funds. For financial and accounting’s work, is there any AI or new IT projects that can enhance the competitive advantage of the company? The editor lists as follows:
3.1 Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Finance robotic process automation enables finance departments to increase productivity, reduce costs and ensure compliance with financial regulations. By reducing repetitive and heavy day-to-day financial tasks, it allows finance professionals to focus on high-value strategic work.
- Financial accounting
Receivables write-off
robotPayables write-off robot
General ledger monthly closing robot - Management accounting
Apportionment scenario robot
Cost allocation robot
Cost totaling robot - Fund control
Account reconciliation robot
Notification of bank’s money arrival is automatically sent to customers
Notification of government’s money arrival is automatically sent to the cooperating manufacturers (inform them that they can come to ask for the payment) - Supply chain
Automatic invoice reading robot
3.2 Computer-aided auditing techniques
In addition to the data analysis functions of traditional computer-aided audit tools (CAATs), it also includes many artificial intelligence functions, such as text exploration, machine learning, data crawling, etc., so that audit analysis can be more intelligent. The following benefits can be accomplished or achieved:
- Automated audit AI
With the promotion of the company’s business and process automation, compliance audit and the use of standard working papers can no longer meet the needs of audit, the traditional leakage audit method requires meticulous and leak-free, often resulting in the burden of auditors, and the overdependence of the inspected unit. Now the use of automated audit makes the needed information streamline and digitize, and the robot can greatly reduce the working hours of the auditor.
- Reduce the risk of fraud
In fact, regardless of the size of the enterprise, reducing the risk of fraud is a sustainable work that needs to be carried out continuously. There is an American insurance company called “Lemonade” in the United States, which was established for only 6 years, and its biggest feature is that it fully embraces AI technology.
It is generally believed that it takes time to wait for the claim, but the Lemonade insurance company can do it in just a few seconds. What’s more, they use AI technology to perform anti-fraud calculations, and their operation is still among the best on the professional review website in the United States, and the company’s stock price is even higher than Apple’s. It is the same when some rules are entered into the AI training database, which can greatly list the cheated people or behaviors that may be fraudulent.
E.g., The same employee applies for multiple accounts, an employee greatly retrieves the company’s files, and the transaction number of new suppliers increases significantly.