Traditionally, a certain portion of annual production is based on surveys that determine customer preferences. This makes it possible to determine which models, versions and configurations of cars will find buyers if they are available at short notice. These cars will go to parking lots at factories and be distributed to dealers within contracted limits. If they do not find buyers in the production year, their price will be consistently reduced.
The second tranche is cars ordered from showrooms according to a catalogue, from which the customer chooses any of the available options. These cars are prepaid, the waiting time for them is generally longer and the production process is more complex, as it must include ordering from subcontractors the appropriate variants of parts for the ordered vehicles. Providing customers with the ability to configure a vehicle at home, in front of a computer screen, has contributed to increasing the share of custom-made cars in total sales volume.
To enable efficient service to customers, manufacturers should work hard to automate production at every level: from logistics to programming machines on the production line. Mitsubishi Electric produces a number of tools to facilitate both production management and the creation of ‘smart’ factories with the ability to adapt production processes to customer orders.
These are effective and repeatedly tested solutions, such as a platform for building manual assembly workstations using the Poka Yoke strategy of assisting workers by supervising the sequence of actions performed. Each successive piece assembled at the workstation can be made according to a different design and the computer will guide the worker to select the right parts and use the correct tools in the recommended order. Moving on to the next step is possible only after completing the previous stages.
Other ways to support ‘personalised’ production include the use of CC-Link IE TSN real-time networks for rapid machine reconfiguration. These types of networks enable real-time data transfer using typical LAN infrastructure.
Another improvement is the introduction of innovative ways to programme industrial robots, especially collaborative robots (cobots) using the ‘by imitation’ method. As a result, preparing a robot to perform a new job can be done without the involvement of a programmer or robotics specialist.
Mitsubishi Electric's products: PLC controllers, industrial PCs, and devices adapted for IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) systems, are designed to facilitate configuration and programming. These capabilities make it possible to speed up the preparation for production of a new variant of a manufactured component, which is so important with the increasing customisation of production.
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