C h a p t e r 4
FLEXIBILITY THROUGH AGILE
MANUFACTURING
Today, a growing trend in the consumer
goods industry is an increasing demand
for custom goods. However, meeting
the demand for small-scale, custom
manufacturing while maintaining
profitability and productivity can be
a significant challenge for factory
operators. Therefore, a major goal of
the modern factory is to incorporate
agile manufacturing methods to enable
more flexible operations and hence more
dynamic and responsive solutions to
customers' demands.
One important aspect in achieving agility
is for the digital factory to be highly
efficient, allowing for cost-effective
and fast manufacturing of custom
goods without requiring too much
time, maintenance, or changes to the
system. In these instances, the ability
to customize an order in coherence with
what the line is already manufacturing,
without affecting the uptime of large-
scale production of other goods, is
important. Factory operators desire the
ability to optimize operations and adapt
in real-time to changes in production
requirements, without impacting overall
utilization or quality, to the foundational
benefit of the digital factory.
Mick McCarthy
Director of Advanced Automation, Analog Devices
The idea of fulfilling customized orders
in real-time can be extremely daunting.
But, with data-driven insights from a
digital factory, operators can optimize
the use of assets and coordinate small-
batch custom orders with what the
line is already manufacturing, making
custom manufacturing feasible and
economical for the factory operator."
19
Leading the Way to the Digital Factory
