Midea is one of over 10 brands within the home appliance business of Midea Group – a leading global high-technology company ranked #307 at 2020’s Global Fortune 500. Midea Group’s business goes beyond home appliances and comprises business pillars like HVAC, robotics and automation, smart home and IoT, as well as smart logistics and components.
Working with China Mobile and Huawei, Midea opened a new washing machine factory in Jingzhou in 2022, that was built from the ground-up to use 5G to deliver a fully interconnected manufacturing process. The factory-wide 5G network enables end-to-end digitisation, advanced logistics, automated robotics, real-time production line monitoring and quality checks using artificial intelligence.
A case study by GSMA highlights the details:
At the new factory, a washing machine comes off the production line every 15 seconds, which is three seconds faster than the second fastest factory in the industry, according to Midea. Compared with a traditional washing machine factory in the Midea Group, output has been doubled, the inventory has been reduced by 50%, and the production cost per product has been cut by 30%.
Midea says it has achieved quality improvements, while making the factory safer and more sustainable. Midea uses 5G’s low latency and multi-access edge computing to collect data on the factory’s processes, which is analysed by the manufacturing execution system. That analysis can be used to make predictions and subsequently optimise the entire manufacturing process. Controlled in the cloud, 5G-connected robots and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can easily be redeployed and reconfigured, thereby making the production lines more flexible, and helping to streamline the supply, production, distribution, warehousing and shipment processes across the plant. Midea’s new factory also uses 5G-connected sensors, instruments and cameras to help it manage energy consumption, track environmental factors, increase safety and maintain site security.
When it went live in August 2022, Midea’s new factory had 2,500 5G connections and more than 1,000 automated machines (in the production and logistic lines). “Each production phase is seamlessly connected through 5G terminals with faster automated machine operations that streamline the complex workshop pipelines,” says Wang Liang of Midea. “It is a benchmark not only in Midea Group, but also in the home appliance manufacturing industry.”
Midea’s holistic deployment of 5G marks a complete departure from the traditional approach to connecting a factory, in which a large number of fibre-optic network cables and Wi-Fi routers are installed, resulting in high costs, long deployment periods, and inflexible infrastructure that is difficult to upgrade or expand. Noting that 5G is more reliable than Wi-Fi, Midea says its AGVs and other connected equipment are less likely to be impacted by unstable signals.
The decision to build 5G into the factory from the start has also saved time and money. China Mobile estimates this approach reduced the whole construction period by at least 60 days. “Traditionally, communication networks are not rolled out until a factory and production lines are completed, which can be a lengthy process, and hence does not meet client expectations,” says Zhang Fei of China Mobile. “China Mobile wanted to find a faster way to accomplish this.”
CHALLENGE: Large manufacturing plants tend to rely on numerous fibre-optic network cables and Wi-Fi routers to connect equipment, resulting in high costs, long deployment periods and inflexible infrastructure that is difficult to upgrade or expand. As Wi-Fi networks operate in unlicensed spectrum, they can be subject to interference, meaning that automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and other connected equipment can be impacted by unstable signals.
SOLUTION: Midea is using the factory-wide 5G network (encompassing 2,500 connected devices) to collect real-time process data, which is analysed by the manufacturing execution system. That analysis is used to continually optimise the entire production process. Controlled in the cloud, 5G-connected robots and AGVs can easily be redeployed and reconfigured, thereby making the production lines more flexible, and helping to streamline the supply, production, distribution, warehousing and shipment processes across the plant. The factory also uses 5G-connected sensors, instruments and cameras to help it manage energy consumption, track environmental factors, improve safety and maintain site security.
IMPACT & STATISTICS: At the new factory, a washing machine comes off the production line every 15 seconds, which is three seconds faster than the next fastest factory in the industry, according to Midea. Compared with a traditional washing machine factory in the Midea Group, the production rate has been doubled, the inventory has been reduced by 50%, and the production cost per product has been cut by 30%. Midea says it has achieved quality improvements, while making the factory safer and more sustainable.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Huawei says China’s government is encouraging the manufacturing sector to deploy thousands of 5G-enabled factories, as part of a programme that will run between 2021 and 2025. The widespread adoption of 5G in the manufacturing sector could bring major social and environmental benefits, by improving the operational efficiency of factories that tend to use substantial amounts of resources and energy.
Comments
Post a Comment