Photo credit: A*STAR (From LinkedIn)
The Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) announced
a strategic partnership with Fujitsu
to accelerate the pace of digital transformation for the Factory of the Future.
The collaboration seeks to allow businesses of all sizes to tap the potential
of smart manufacturing solutions.
ARTC is a public-private collaboration between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and over 50 industry partners working together to bridge technological gaps in
the adoption of advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing capabilities.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between
Fujitsu and the ARTC. The three-year partnership will leverage the expertise of
Fujitsu, and ARTC’s research and development expertise and state-of-the-art
facilities to develop strategic capabilities that address key challenges faced
by the manufacturing sector, and prepare for a future ecosystem of intelligent
manufacturing.
Through the partnership, the two parties will jointly
identify and develop solutions to realise the digital transformation of a wide
range of enterprises involved in the manufacturing supply chain, including small
and medium companies (SMEs). This will offer potential productivity and
efficiency gains, minimise security risks and enhance workplace safety.
Areas of
Collaboration
Fujitsu and ARTC will collaborate to apply technologies in
the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, Head Mounted Display
and Industrial Augmented Reality, Cybersecurity, Wearable technology, Human and
Robotics Harmonisation to the manufacturing industry. Fujitsu’s integrated
design environment will be rolled out for product development to businesses to
better integrate processes, such as design development within the manufacturing
environment.
Industrial IoT
To help the manufacturing sector achieve productivity and efficiency gains,
Fujitsu and ARTC will work together to overcome a key challenge of Industrial
IoT (IIoT) – open interoperability and development of common architecture. They
will look into the design of standard reference architecture, where the design
of all elements – sensors, network, data systems, security and applications,
are well integrated.
Wearables for Manufacturing
Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of wearable technology to track
workers' vital signs, activities, and location to enhance safety at the
workplace.
Cybersecurity in Smart Factories
This collaboration will address cybersecurity requirements of Smart Factories,
to identify and recommend best practices and solutions. They will jointly
identify suitable security solutions and processes to minimise risks to
operations and data loss in the manufacturing process.
Head Mounted Display and Industrial Augmented Reality
applications
The use of Head Mounted Displays and Augmented Reality
applications will be explored to raise productivity levels through enhanced
information sharing. This will help to promote remote assistance for workers in
hard-to-access areas and large factories.
Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing
Artificial Intelligence, such as deep learning, machine
learning and genetic algorithm, could potentially help improve efficiencies in
manufacturing and reduce costs. Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of
such techniques through prototypes and proof of concepts, with the aim of
developing them into applications for real-world deployments.
Human and Robotics Harmonisation
To enable Humans and Robots to co-work in future
factories, new tools in robotics programming and simulation are required to
establish harmonised work between human and robots. The two parties will
explore the use of such harmonisation tools through building test beds
Machine Learning solutions
Machine learning can be used to solve challenges in anomaly detection and predictive maintenance. Fujitsu and ARTC will explore use of machine learning solutions and promote its use in various manufacturing scenarios.
