Adopting Shop Floor Digitalization in Indian Manufacturing SMEs—A Transformational Study

Dutta, Gautam; Kumar, Ravinder; Sindhwani, Rahul; Singh, Rajesh Kumar

The objective of this paper is to enumerate a study of the transformation of a brownfield manufacturing facility producing Electro-Mechanical Devices (EMD). Essentially this study can be termed as a testimonial for “Digitalize and Transform” initiative. A Production Digital Twin was developed leveraging the IIoT ready shop floor and adopting appropriate digital technologies. The proven DES model and digital twin methodology can be leveraged for future simulations to support market variability. Discrete Event Simulation (DES) method was deployed to create digital models of the shop floor resources and their interplay to help explore the plant characteristics and optimize its performance. The digital simulation model was integrated with the shop floor IIoT framework in a closed-loop, to run experiments and what-if scenarios with variable input parameters. Using this setup, physical shop floor and the digital simulation model share operational data in a continuous closed-loop to provide decision support for improving plant operations. EDM manufacturer’s target was to set up a re-usable DES model to arrive at actionable insights those can help them improve assembly line performance and get ready for the variable demand and product variants that subsequently would help them in driving business and profitability. Significant improvements were realized across all operational indicators—efficiency, quality, productivity and flexibility. Manufacturing SMEs across India are implementing IIoT and data analytics with the objective of acquiring real-time data thus enabling quick and accurate decision making. The closed-loop discrete event simulation methodology has the potential of enhancing IIoT investments further. Especially in the post-COVID scenario, when manufacturers are challenged with disrupted supply-chain, inconsistent demand and manpower shortages, this methodology can help execute shop-floor plans efficiently with optimum resources.