The technology group EDGE consolidated more than 25 business units with around 6,000 employees into a new “Advanced Technology” business unit. Within two years, the company implemented an Industry 4.0 project for digital transformation that improved numerous operations processes, from the management of production orders to outbound logistics.
The main goal of the project was to build Industrie 4.0 solutions on lean processes and to anchor the resulting new way of working in the organization. For example, the aim was to transfer tools and processes such as handwritten meeting minutes and isolated documentation into contemporary, digital formats. At the same time, the goal was to reduce the time required to create manual reports, gain real-time visibility into KPIs, and identify quality issues early on. To ensure the success of the project, a three-pillar strategy (OPEX, Industry 4.0, training organization) was developed in which the respective responsible teams worked closely together from the start of the project.
The company’s own “Learning & Innovation Factory”, or LIF for short, served as a central lever for implementing this three-pillar strategy. Its training program covers a matrix of skill levels and topics, e.g. regarding Lean & Lean Digital, Six Sigma, Analytics & IoT and Agile. This is intended to enable employees to master the changes brought about by OPEX and Industry 4.0.
The training courses are held in a learning factory: There, employees can gain hands-on experience with all relevant topics and contribute new ideas for fine-tuning certain technologies or solutions before they go into a global roll-out. Here, for example, use cases are created for the use of cobots, AGVs, for machine connection and for digital store floor management as well as for additive manufacturing. All relevant process steps from production and logistics are mapped on fully functional workstations and lines.
Due to the high level of interest from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) industrial ecosystem, LIF will be an essential part of a government program to train the workforce in UAE industry for Industry 4.0 and advanced technologies. The first step is to open up LIF training to employees of many other companies.
Already in the first program phase, EDGE redesigned processes according to lean aspects. In the process, employees tried out Industry 4.0 solutions and thus created concrete use cases, which were then evaluated and selected for practical use. Ultimately, the award winner achieved complete connectivity of the machines and today records all relevant data in an IIoT platform. This allows, among other things, calculations of KPIs such as OEE and the visualization of process parameters in real time in a digital store floor management. In addition, there are further innovations such as condition monitoring of the machines including predictive maintenance and AGVs that fulfill their transport orders coupled to the material consumption of the manufacturing processes.
