Opting for digitization is to go with the flow

This is the new reality, where the connectivity of machines and the intelligent control and management of processes has developed to automatically optimize tasks performed by humans, with no help or supervision.

Technology is here to stay to make our lives easier and, as far as industrial processes are concerned, more efficient and precise, which leads to lower costs, increased productivity, reduced inefficiencies and optimized production. 

Terms such as Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Everything (IoE) and Internet of Behavior, (IoB), can also be applied to the world of metal and sheet metal cutting.

With the IoT, in our sector, we connect each of the workshop machines to save the relevant parameters of their processes, then with the IoE we connect the programs (CAD/CAM, MES, ERP) that manage all the workshop machines giving us comprehensive information on the entire production process. Finally, with the IoB we can understand the customer better to provide the best possible service, matched to their unique characteristics.

With expert systems, the process of generating a part is optimized, right from drawing up the quote to delivery to the client, in the most profitable way possible, enabling the manufacturer to meet the requirements of quality, price and deadline, in a simple and almost automatic way.

As with all technological leaps, there are misgivings about the role of people within the business in the short, medium and especially long term. Accepting that digitization processes are here to stay and that the tools and technological enablers that are being used, will increase the productivity of each of the operators, machines and processes in the digital factory is the first step. However, the reality is that we are still far from complete automation, so digitization will help us find the optimal point for the individual workshop or factory, adjusting to each company’s level of digital maturity.

Gradually, adopting these hyperconnected systems will allow sheet metal cutting companies to have controlled processes similar to those found in other highly technological sectors, at a reasonable price and without needing a data center in their facilities or any type of IT infrastructure beyond the PCs they use every day.

According to a report by Accenture, despite there being significant interest in using cloud technology in the industry, in actual fact companies only currently keep between 20% and 40% of their processes in the cloud, and then only simple tasks. It is clear from this that it is becoming increasingly important for companies that already had significant digital gaps, highlighted by home working and lockdowns at the start of the pandemic, to embrace cloud technology as soon as possible. By doing so, they will be able to mitigate business risk, emerge stronger and be prepared to thrive amid any future uncertainty.

We are facing changes that force us out of our comfort zone and which move us towards a new digital ecosystem where we have to be more collaborative. Now it is clear that these changes are the new normal and are irreversible making it necessary to take steps to achieve a smooth transition to a new way of working.

A major factor for success when implementing process digitization is choosing a good partner company to carry it out. Here, the experience of Lantek with companies in the sheet metal cutting sector makes us the best project partner for supporting and accompanying companies in their digitization journey, adapting solutions to their different levels of digital maturity.

Lantek has evolved in parallel with the technological advances digitization offers, in some cases it has anticipated them helping its clients carry out their digitization processes ahead of their competitors in a way that is both affordable and safe.

At Lantek, we work in partnership with the client developing a roadmap where the digitization processes are implemented in steps manageable for the customer’s business, eliminating any risk and uncertainty.

Lantek can extract knowledge and data stored in company records for sheet metal part production using digitized production processes and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Companies using this technology have seen how they can exponentially reduce raw material waste and manufacturing times and increase quality in their plants. By implementing artificial intelligence in their processes they are immediately able to detect any anomaly in production, preventing possible interruptions to manufacturing. For example, if the system finds problems in a machine, it diverts the work to another. Likewise, companies that have undergone a digitization process have seen how these enablers will allow them to draw up quotes more quickly and almost automatically, help them to predict future orders related to their history and, at the same time, achieve significant cost savings, quickly amortizing the investment they made in digitization.

Ignoring the advantages of digital transformation is refusing to see a reality that is becoming increasingly mainstream in the industrial sector and which is providing excellent results.

If your company is yet to start swimming in the sea of digitization, do it as soon as possible and go with the flow because the digital tsunami is already here.