Back to Work For Now, Automate Later
Shop Talk
Capturing this week's zeitgeist
U.S. ports reopened after ILA port workers agreed to return to work, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy. The breakthrough Thursday came after port employers offered a 62% increase in wages over six years.
While the ILA workers are back to work, the US aerospace workers part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) missed their first paychecks and earlier in the week, and healthcare benefits ran out.
Kaizen Blitz
- đź“Š Survey Says
- MIT’s 2024 State of Supply Chain Sustainability report indicates organizations do not seem ready to meet their sustainability goals.
- Inventory Management 2024 Benchmark Report by Netstock Research
- MIT Technology Review’s 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch including the incredible story of Solugen.
- SEMI’s quarterly 300mm Fab Outlook Report expects equipment spending for 2024 is expected to increase to US$99B (+4% YoY).
- 🗣️ Town Hall
- What CEOs talked about in Q3 2024: Practical AI applications, renewable energy sources, and unpredictable IT outages.
- Li-Cycle CEO & Co-Founder Ajay Kochhar discusses how his technology enables up to a 95% recovery rate to return critical materials back to the supply chain.
- Half of all lithium-ion batteries could be made with recycled lithium by 2042, according to the founder of CATL.
- Jeff Erhardt, CEO, Mattiq discusses bridging the innovation gap in the chemical industry
- Xometry CEO Randy Altschuler discusses their technology and what manufacturers can learn from the company’s experience deploying AI
- 🏆 Golden Part
- Hyundai Motor celebrates its 100 million vehicle produced globally while Toyota Alabama produces its 10 millionth engine.
- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2023 produced natural gas from shale in the Low Cambrian formation in the Sichuan Basin at a depth exceeding 14,760 feet, marking the first time that commercially viable natural gas was produced from this deeper formation.
- Airbus conducts flight test of first A321XLR
- The IFR 2024 “Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation” (IERA) goes to Realtime Robotics. The US company from Boston won the prestigious prize for its fully-automatic motion planning tool for industrial robots.
- đźŹđź’° Production Planning
- China’s Sokan New Materials Group plans to build specialized coatings factory in USA.
- Quest One and MAN Energy Solutions open new gigahub in Hamburg.
- Lilly announces new $4.5 billion site at Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, Indiana, USA.
- Johnson & Johnson to invest more than $2 billion in new, advanced technology manufacturing facility in North Carolina, USA.
Assembly Line
This week's most influential Industry 4.0 media.
GE Appliances Uses Advanced Automation to Dish Out Productivity
That’s why GE Appliances’ dishwasher factory is the recipient of the 2024 Assembly Plant of the Year award sponsored by ASSEMBLY Magazine. The assembly plants have received significant upgrades over the past two years with new top-load washer models and four-door refrigerators added, as well as new production lines and fabrication equipment. The dishwasher expansion alone positions AP3 to become the largest plant of its kind in the United States. Over the past six years, GE Appliances has significantly increased volume at the dishwasher factory.
“The transformation was driven by two major new product introductions,” notes Good, who previously served as plant manager at GE Appliances’ refrigerator factory in Decatur, AL. “For both programs, the AP3 manufacturing team (operations, quality, advanced manufacturing engineering, advanced quality and materials) integrated closely with our technology team.
“They reduced total part count, developed common parts used for multiple brands and platforms, reduced complexity and improved ergonomics for our operators, and installed best-in-class assembly lines and automation,” notes Good.
PepsiCo installs its first automated warehouse in Poland with Mecalux
PepsiCo, a global leader in food and beverages, has installed its first automated warehouse in Poland, its most sustainable in Europe. Automation facilitates production with the push system, which involves manufacturing in advance to meet anticipated demand.
The facility was designed in line with the push system, which involves manufacturing in advance to meet anticipated demand. While this method reduces unit costs, it requires sufficient space to manage large production runs. With 9,000 locations, PepsiCo’s new finished goods warehouse receives a large number of pallets daily, loaded with ready-to-ship bags of potato crisps for clients. “The production process is fully integrated with the automated warehouse. Each potato crisp bag is transported from the manufacturing area to final packaging, ready to be picked and loaded onto the lorry,” says Pietrusa.
Transporting goods internally between storage and production is now faster thanks to electric monorail and conveyor systems for pallets. These solutions also connect the warehouse with the docking area, facilitating the shipment of thousands of pallets a day. The electric monorail deposits pallets ordered by clients into five double-channel live roller conveyor lines. Each channel has a 34-pallet capacity. SKUs are grouped according to delivery route, vehicle type, client and shipping priority, among other factors.
Virgin Atlantic's VP of Data and AI on chatbots, transformation and enterprise astrophysics
As VP of Data and AI, Masters’ remit covers all enterprise data at Virgin Atlantic, ranging from the information generated by its commercial activity all the way to the data from engineering or maintenance teams. He’s responsible for forging the links between data and AI, focusing on “how we build the engines and algorithms”.
The airline is now on a GenAI journey which began with relatively basic use cases such as summarisation and categorisation of messages from email, web forms or other sources, which is then combined and processed in combination with its knowledge policies and procedures, as well as details of the tone of voice and other brand-related information to makes the responses of an AI model more consistent, convincing and human in tone. It was the first airline to adopt fully automated generative AI pricing technology, which is now live and being used to price selected routes. Customer service chatbots demonstrate the power of GenAI, Masters says, which offers transformative benefits for both passengers and airline staff.
Autonomous Truck Company Torc Robotics Aims to Scale
Autonomous trucks also need an incredible amount of computing power, and that needs to be affordable. And there have been dramatic breakthroughs with AI algorithms used for navigation and safety. The CEO says, “You have the building blocks” to release a product at the right price point, which is safe enough to reduce liability risks greatly. “That just wasn’t the case five years ago.”
However, Mr. Schmidt’s larger point was that getting a handful of AV trucks on the road was not good enough. The real question was how soon you could release autonomous trucks at scale. The 2027 date Torc is shooting for is a date they can believe they can also put trucks on the road at scale. To do this, the trucks don’t just have to be safe and reliable; they must be cost-efficient and easy to buy and service at dealerships. Daimler Truck will provide the intellectual capital to do high-volume manufacturing and has a dealer network in place.
Sereact Lens | Case Study | AI-based inventory management
Machine learning-based dispatching for a wet clean station in semiconductor manufacturing
The concept of cyber manufacturing has become a critical element in semiconductor fabrication environments, where automation and systemization are integral, for addressing the growing complexity of processes and facilitating predictive capabilities through data integration. This study deals with the dispatching problem to minimize makespan at a wet clean station in semiconductor fabrication using artificial intelligence-enabled manufacturing control techniques. The wet clean station is comprised of sequential chemical and rinsing baths for cleaning wafer lots and multiple robot arms for lot handling. In the station, wafer lots are sequentially immersed in several baths for cleaning to eliminate residual contaminants and stains that cause defects on wafer surfaces. The station can process various types of products, and the specific order of immersion differs depending on the product type. Unlike typical dispatching problems, the information required for dispatching, such as processing times and sequences inside the station, is not available. The only available data are historical logs that record when each lot enters and leaves the station. However, even when cleaning the same product type, the duration that lots spend in the station may vary based on the combination of product types being cleaned simultaneously and the settings of the station. Thus, using the time records, this study proposes a dispatching method based on machine learning models (multiple linear regression, deep neural network, and convolutional neural network). The proposed algorithms were evaluated and verified by comparing them with CPLEX solving a mixed integer programming and dispatching methods used in a semiconductor fab in Korea. Through this experiment, we observed that the proposed models can provide dispatching solutions that are practical and effective in a rapidly changing production setting. These models have the potential to enhance the capacity of a wet clean station and will contribute to artificial intelligence-based manufacturing system control.
New Product Introduction
Highlighting new and innovative facilities, processes, products, and services
Carbon film with crazy electron spin life could boost quantum devices production
Australia-based semiconductor company Archer Materials has developed an advanced carbon film that can boost the production of quantum materials. The electron spin of these films lasts for 400 nanoseconds — far longer than the lifetimes previously observed in carbon nano-onions (CNOs).
The researchers from Archer Materials suggest that their newly developed carbon films can make CNO production scalable. Plus, it can be used alongside CNOs to speed up quantum material manufacturing. The researchers developed a proprietary chemical vapor deposition process, which enabled them to deposit the carbon film on substrates such as silicon without any difficulties.
Verallia inaugurates its first 100% electric furnace
Verallia, the European leader and third-largest glass packaging producer in the world, inaugurated the first 100% electric furnace at its Cognac plant. This technological innovation, which reduces CO2 emissions by 60% compared to a traditional furnace, is part of the Group’s ambitious decarbonization strategy and marks a decisive step towards a more sustainable future for the glass industry.
The result of a strategic partnership with Fives, an international industrial engineering group of French origin, this furnace represents a breakthrough in the production of flint and extra-flint glass. With a daily capacity of 180 tons, equivalent to 300,000 bottles, it reduces CO2 emissions by 60% compared to a traditional furnace.
ABB launches groundbreaking Ultra Accuracy for GoFa™ cobots
ABB Robotics launched Ultra Accuracy, a new industry-leading feature for its GoFa cobot family that delivers the highest level of precision available in cobots, enabling over 10 times greater path accuracy vs. other cobots on the market.
With its superior performance, Ultra Accuracy meets the demands of applications where exact positioning is crucial for maintaining product quality and operational efficiency. Applications include gluing and sealing in consumer electronics production, laser welding of car parts, composite material layers in aerospace manufacturing, and precision laser cutting in metals fabrication processes. It can also be used for accurate positioning of additive layers in building prototypes in 3D printing, and for performing precision quality checking in metrology applications.
Yokogawa Launches Explosion-Protected Wireless Steam Trap Monitoring Device
Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) announces the addition of a new wireless steam trap monitoring device to the Sushi Sensor lineup of solutions in the OpreX™ Asset Management and Integrity family. This new product complies with the ATEX directive and is available in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia from today. It will be later released in the United States, Europe, and India in compliance with IECEx, FM, and other explosion-protected standards.
Business Transactions
This week's top funding events, acquisitions, and partnerships across industrial value chains.
Toyota To Invest $500 Million in Joby Aviation
Toyota Motor Corporation and Joby Aviation, Inc., a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility. The investment, which will bring Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to $894 million, will be made in the form of cash for common stock, with the first tranche targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025.
Dexory Secures $80M Funding to Drive Global Expansion Goals and Development of Groundbreaking Technology
Dexory, the leading robotics and data intelligence company, today announced it has successfully closed an $80 million Series B funding round. The round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic and several angels from the logistics industry. As part of this investment, DTCP’s Michael Rager joins Dexory’s board of directors.
Mstack Chemicals secures $40M to disrupt global speciality chemical manufacturing across more countries
Mstack, a US-based custom manufacturing platform that helps global buyers source high-quality specialty chemicals, has raised $40M to double down on its mission to disrupt a historically flawed supply chain for specialty chemicals. The company’s $40M Series A round was co-led by Lightspeed and Alpha Wave and included a debt facility from HSBC Innovation Banking as well as an all star lineup of angel investors. MStack will deploy the freshly infused capital to expand its footprint across the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, while continuing to strengthen its presence in the United States and other geographies.
Notably, the company has codified its entire operation into a single platform, allowing buyers to source, test, ship, deliver, and track all of their specialty chemicals in one place. This meticulous control ensures Mstack is able to consistently meet its value proposition of reliable and timely delivery. The company currently offers products in four categories: oil and gas, coatings, water treatment, and home and personal care. With this round of funding, Mstack is making inroads into agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, among other segments.
Pallet Raises $18M Series A to Reinvent Logistics Software
Pallet, a unified transportation and warehouse management system, today announced an $18 million Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and Activant Capital. Angel investors also participated, including Zach Frankel, Toast founders Aman Narang and Steve Fredette, Dutchie CEO Tim Barash, Home Depot board member Manuel Kadre, and Cedar Capital partner John Curtius. Pallet will use the funds to grow its team, expand operations and invest in new enterprise product capabilities. The new funding contributes to a total of $21 million raised to date.
Honeywell and Chevron Collaborate on AI-Assisted Solutions for Refining Processes
Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) announced a strategic collaboration with Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-Assisted solutions to help operators make decisions to enhance efficiency for refining processes and improve safety within the industrial automation space.
Together, the two companies are leveraging their deep domain knowledge and industry expertise to create a new generation of AI-Assisted alarm management solutions that will help operators make decisions to increase the efficiency, safety and reliability of process operations and industrial assets. The new solutions will include an Alarm Guidance application that provides operators with guided and specific actions to effectively respond to alarms and operational events, helping to reduce lost profit opportunities and process safety incidents. Using AI technology, the system will mine historical data on past actions to identify patterns of alarms and the corresponding operator actions that successfully return the process to normal operation.
Accenture forms Nvidia Business Group to chase agentic AI
Consulting giant Accenture is forming an Nvidia Business Group in its own organization to help it drive and grow AI adoption in enterprises, a move that comes as part of a newly expanded partnership between the two firms, and more deeply entwines Accenture with the company that has become the poster boy of the AI boom.
Accenture said it will help enable agentic AI by leveraging its AI Refinery framework, which uses the full Nvidia AI stack, including Nvidia AI Foundry, AI Enterprise and Omniverse platforms, to advance areas such as process reinvention, AI-powered simulation, and sovereign AI. The company already has AI Refinery Engineering Hubs in Mountain View, California, and Bangalore, and intends to build additional hubs in Accenture Singapore, Tokyo, Malaga, and London. The partners already are working with some customers to support agentic AI, one prime example being Indosat Group in Indonesia, with whom Accenture and Nvidia are working on a sovereign AI project.
Accenture AI Refinery will be available on all public and private cloud platforms and will integrate seamlessly with other Accenture Business Groups to accelerate AI across the SaaS and cloud AI ecosystem, the company stated. Accenture also plans to debut a new Nvidia NIM Agent Blueprint for virtual facility robot fleet simulation, which integrates Omniverse and Nvidia’s Isaac robotics software and Metropolis video analytics software to enable industrial companies to build autonomous, robot-operated software-defined factories and facilities. Accenture will use these new capabilities at Eclipse Automation, an Accenture-owned manufacturing automation company, to deliver as much as 50% faster designs and 30% reduction in cycle time on behalf of its clients, the company said.
Dragos Acquires Network Perception, Delivers the Industry’s Most Comprehensive Visibility of OT Environments
Dragos Inc., the global leader in cybersecurity for operational technology (OT) environments, today announced the acquisition of Network Perception, makers of NP-View, an award-winning network visualization platform for OT networks. The acquisition will bolster the Dragos Platform with industry-leading OT network visibility along with compliance and segmentation analysis and reporting capabilities tailored to safeguard critical OT environments.
With the upcoming integration, the combined power of the Dragos Platform and NP-View will deliver dual-layer visibility into OT environments by revealing both real-time connections and potential pathways in a cohesive view. This will empower security teams to proactively defend against risks that are invisible to conventional solutions and for the first time fully map the intent versus reality of their network configurations, identifying key vulnerabilities along the attack path before they can be exploited.
In the future, through the integration of NP-View’s topology and firewall rules analysis into the Dragos Platform, customers will be able to map their OT environment network topology more effectively, decide where to place Dragos Platform network sensors, map vulnerabilities to attack paths, and evaluate configuration and policy drift. The dual layer visibility into what assets are communicating and what communication paths are possible will be a powerful security and compliance view of the OT environment. NP-View’s network segmentation capabilities will enhance Dragos’s strong defense mechanisms against lateral movement by adversaries within OT environments.