The pallet sector is part of the Industry 4.0 revolution as more and more companies are moving away from hand-built to automated production. Increasingly, automation involves new strategies connected with Industry 4.0 trends and technology.
What is Industry 4.0? How is it reflected in changes to pallet industry machinery? What does it hold for the future? Let’s look into some of these questions and develop some key points for you to remember as you continue to automate and search for new machinery to install in your operations.
According to most experts, there are four phases of the modern industrial revolution. It all began back in the 1760s with the First Industrial Revolution, which was marked by a transition from hand production methods to machines through the use of steam and water power. This development first really took off in the textile industry and then moved to other sectors. The Second Industrial Revolution resulted from the installation of extensive railroad and telegraph networks that facilitated faster communication and transfer of people and goods. This development occurred primarily between the 1870s and the early 1900s. The Third Industrial Revolution, nicknamed the Digital Revolution, sprang up after World War II. It centered on developments in communication networks, supercomputers and personal computers.
Industry 4.0 was first coined in 2011 as part of a German government effort to promote the computerization of manufacturing. It was later popularized and described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution during the Davos World Economic Forum in 2016. Key areas of focus for Industry 4.0 are robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, simulation and virtual reality, 3D printing/additive manufacturing, fully autonomous vehicles, 5G wireless technology, smart sensors, fraud prevention and detection, GPS and location detection technologies, cybersecurity, advanced materials (composites), cloud computing, advances in human and machine interfaces, data analytics, and networked machines.
The idea is to develop a smart factory where automated processes better predict demand, identify trouble areas and fix them before a problem develops, and allow for more remote monitoring. A key goal is to reduce labor and promotes better usage of data. These goals are achieved through greater interconnection and networking of machines and processes, information transparency, and artificial intelligence where computers help people make better decisions. In some cases, artificial intelligence automatically makes most decisions only sending really difficult situations to human managers to decide.
So, let’s look at these key Industry 4.0 trends and see how they are impacting the pallet industry now and how they could radically alter the future.
The first key place where you are seeing improvements is networked machines. Increasingly, pallet nailing and sawmilling systems come with remote monitoring and diagnostics capabilities where you can track production and performance while away from the plant. Also, performance glitches, technical challenges or error codes can be diagnosed by remote experts at the machinery manufacturer. This has allowed for greater production, troubleshooting and optimizing machinery performance. From sensors to improved preventative maintenance programs, companies can spot small problems before they become big ones.
Secondly, big data will become a larger trend as pallet companies do less analysis on pieces of paper and spreadsheets compared with tablets and smartphones. Sensors and cameras will be able to feed information into software to improve overall production flow. Sensors and cameras can improve auditing of functions, such as unloading a drop trailer and counting pallets from an incoming core source. This information can improve the accounting functions connected with recycling programs while providing verified information to support your claims.
Barcode scanners and sensors have been deployed to improve productivity tracking for recyclers for more than a decade. Advances in computing, sensors and software could allow for greater improvement in plant flow and optimizing production. What if an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software in the future ran your production guidance to better improve inventory management and use of raw materials? These programs can do some of these tasks now. But combined with artificial intelligence, optimizing performance could be taken to a whole new level in the future.
A third development that has come on strong in the pallet sector over the last few years is the use of robotics for some functions. Robots are not a panacea for all automation challenges. But robots offer some unique advantages when it comes to labor savings, performing complex functions, space savings and more. A recent report by McKinsey & Company found that over the past 30 years, the average cost of a robot has fallen by half in real terms and even more when compared to the skyrocketing cost of human labor. Improvements in artificial learning, sensors and programming will enable robots to take on even more complex tasks in the future. If you told me 10 years ago that a robot could be used to dismantle a pallet, I might wonder if it could really be done as effectively as human labor. Now with recent advances, robots are dismantling pallets at an impressive rate at some of the test sites for the newest technology. You will likely see even more opportunities in the future as cobots become an even greater reality. These are robots that can safely work alongside humans with limited fencing or other safety barriers meant to safeguard people in the plant.
A fourth area of growth is modeling, simulation, visualization and production design based on scans of existing processes and buildings. Some pallet and sawmill machinery companies are beginning to offer these services to help you maximize the throughput and layout of your plant. They will conduct scans and use that information to come up with various facility layout improvement suggestions. If you are adding any new major pieces of equipment, you owe it to yourself to take a minute and consider your facility layout. Are you just moving machinery around to fit one more piece? Or are you really analyzing your current facility for bottlenecks and ways to improve the entire operation?
New virtual reality or visualization tools may be able to help everything from training to facility layout optimization to more.
Over the past two decades, a fifth area that has made huge gains in warehouses is automated guided vehicles. What if fully autonomous vehicles could be used to improve conveyance in the future for pallet plants without requiring a forklift operator. What if new fully autonomous vehicles could handle everything from forklifts to tractor trailers? This technology is not as far off as we once believed. Autonomous vehicles may be safer for some functions than those piloted by humans. They may also provide greater system flexibility and boost inventory control and management.
When evaluating automation, you have to realize that not all automation technology works well for each application. This may seem like common sense. But you would be surprised how people think that automation always solves problems. Sometimes, it merely creates new ones. Whatever automation technology you select, it must align with your overall business and operational goals. This all starts with articulating a clear problem that the right automated solution can solve. Does the solution add complexity to the process or change the raw material (lumber) requirements? Does the solution increase cycle time for the process? If it does without providing a significant benefit, this solution is only adding cost. Automation must show a clear return on investment; usually this is connected with better production speed and/or labor savings.
When you are in the brainstorming process of analyzing your operation, don’t be afraid to dream big or ask seemingly impossible questions. Sure, these may not be realistic. But you might find a good idea just below the surface that is possible with existing technology.
Finally, you have to look for small changes with big impacts. Maybe you can’t afford to develop a pallet plant that only has two people working the line, but you can add a few pieces of equipment that remove a bottleneck or provide greater flexibility for your raw material procurement. Consider the questions in the Sidebar as you try to take your facility to the next level.
Creating Your Plant of the Future Today
Questions to Consider for Advanced Automation in Pallet Operations
1.) What is your core manufacturing challenge? Why do you want advanced automation?
2.) Where is your bottleneck? How can merely lean business principles reduce wasted motion? Then look to add automation to push the performance even further.
3.) What pieces of information would make this process or facility run better? What information do you wish your machinery tracked and provided to you? How can you accurately acquire this information?
4.) What is the desired cycle time you hope to achieve?
5.) How is lumber variability a challenge for this part of your process? How can you reduce variance to boost throughput?
6.) How does your current process produce unnecessary waste or unresolved production challenges that you have to address later?
7.) What technology do you wish existed to solve this core production problem? Can you find this solution deployed in other markets?
8.) Is your facility layout optimized for current and future production?
