The worldwide automotive business is within the midst of main modifications and challenges towards the pattern of electrification and intelligence. In response to the latest statistics launched by an area auto business affiliation, the gross sales of China’s gasoline car market have declined for 3 consecutive years. With the intensification of the value warfare, some automotive corporations have even withdrawn from the market. The auto elements producers caught in it are going through the issue of the right way to survive and develop towards the more and more fierce competitors.
Yanfeng Auto Worldwide Automotive Expertise Co., Ltd. (hereinafter known as “Yanfeng Auto”) is a number one Chinese language automotive elements provider specializing in automotive inside and exterior trim, automotive seats, cabin electronics and security techniques. Headquartered in Shanghai, Yanfeng Auto has 9 R&D facilities, greater than 240 factories and technical facilities in 20 nations around the globe, with over 55,000 workers. Dealing with challenges, Yanfeng Auto’s method is to work with corporations like IBM with superior know-how, business expertise and technical experience to speed up its personal data-driven digital transformation to scale back value, enhance effectivity and scale for company-wide innovation.
Situation 1: Routinely convert large exterior common orders to inner orders with the pure language studying functionality of IBM Watson Discovery
Yanfeng Auto receives an enormous variety of orders from automakers and downstream producers each day, and it beforehand needed to manually convert exterior common orders to inner orders based mostly on expertise. In every manufacturing unit, it took a median of 150 minutes a day for 2 workers members to kind the orders manually, accompanied by 15% classification errors. That presents large challenges for the corporate by way of labor value and effectivity.
Leveraging the highly effective pure language studying functionality of IBM Watson Discovery and the hands-on help of IBM Buyer Success Supervisor (CSM) group, Yanfeng Auto efficiently constructed up an AI mannequin that was skilled with its blended knowledge of structured knowledge and unstructured textual content, masking 180 million historic knowledge, with over 200 permutations and mixtures. The mannequin has realized the foundations behind the interior orders comparable to common orders. The AI mannequin helps the corporate notice a completely computerized execution course of with out guide operation, growing the order classification accuracy price from 85% to 97%.
Situation 2: Notice high-speed transmission of large knowledge between department manufacturing workshops and headquarters with Aspera Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, establishing knowledge basis for clever stock platform with predictability.
The Clever Manufacturing Division of Yanfeng Auto hopes to work with IBM CSM group to discover the way in which of increase its clever stock platform with predictive capabilities. To drive predictive resolution making and computerized recognition, they want a considerable amount of knowledge throughout the corporate for AI mannequin coaching. Nevertheless, the primary roadblock is its outdated approach of knowledge transmission.
To keep up real-time situational consciousness of the elements stock in numerous manufacturing workshops in additional than 240 factories around the globe, Yanfeng Auto must shortly transmit again to headquarters the 1000’s of real-time photographs taken at every plant. Beforehand, the Clever Manufacturing Division used the standard copy and paste technique to switch the picture recordsdata by batches. On account of sluggish transmission velocity, large community delays, and severe packet loss, they needed to manually choose and replica the picture recordsdata by batches and repeat the method a number of occasions. This was not solely time-consuming but in addition made it straightforward to make errors. On the identical time, if the transmission was interrupted, it couldn’t be reconnected and resume transmission mechanically, nor might they customise the transmission velocity, or totally make the most of the transmission bandwidth of the spine community.
With help of IBM CSM group, Yanfeng Auto efficiently deployed Aspera Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration inside solely sooner or later to construct up a light-weight enterprise-level file switch resolution for Yanfeng Auto, which elevated its file switch velocity by 10 occasions, saved guide ready time, prevented human errors, realized computerized transmission resumption and computerized community reconnection. With this resolution, Yanfeng Auto now can dynamically configure transmission bandwidth and velocity restrict with out affecting the efficiency of its ERP core system and maximize the transmission effectivity of its real-time monitoring recordsdata, laying the information basis for realizing the division’s imaginative and prescient of increase an clever stock platform with predictive capabilities.
Situation 3: Break the operational bottleneck attributable to Kafka, an open-source knowledge extraction software. With Occasion Streams Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, you’ll be able to simplify the method of extremely obtainable knowledge extraction.
Yanfeng Auto has beforehand deployed an open-source Kafka cluster in every department manufacturing unit to extract knowledge from a number of real-time manufacturing knowledge in its MES system and supply them to the MI Kanban (Dashboard) System of every manufacturing unit for question and show. Nevertheless, this open-source system poses a number of operational complexities.
For instance, for every guide set up, deployment, configuration, improve, and upkeep, it will take days or even weeks and incur an enormous labor value. Furthermore, it was not ready to make sure enterprise-level safety and excessive availability, and it didn’t help pure integration with the core enterprise techniques and the widespread manufacturing techniques. Lastly, there was no Kafka technical help or after-sales assure, ensuing within the want for ongoing funding in workers coaching and skilled consulting companies.
With the help of IBM CSM group, Yanfeng Auto has efficiently adopted Occasion Streams Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration in considered one of its factories as a prototype for real-time knowledge extraction. The information-generating software extracts knowledge—reminiscent of elements manufacturing shifts, manufacturing portions, demand portions, rework portions, sequencing and different related manufacturing knowledge—from the MES system and sends them to the corresponding knowledge matter channel. Functions that extract knowledge can use the information straight by subscribing to the corresponding matter channel of Occasion Streams. The MI Skynet Kanban (Dashboard) system can choose specified desk fields for subsequent dashboard show and early warning evaluation.
By deploying Occasion Streams, the enterprise-level knowledge extraction resolution, Yan Feng can obtain “one-click” deployment, out-of-the-box use, zero downtime rolling upgrades, and at all times have the most recent steady model of Kafka. Occasion Streams comes with a graphical operation interface, which requires little further abilities coaching. It additionally takes benefit of high-security, geo-replication, and enterprise-grade catastrophe restoration capabilities of the product. Furthermore, different functionalities like superior schema registries and wealthy Kafka connectors and extensible REST APIs make it straightforward to scale. As well as, IBM supplies enterprise-level after-sales service, skilled session, and well timed troubleshooting, serving to the consumer to acquire the technical experience they want.
Situation 4: Notice clever manufacturing capability estimation and planning for core manufacturing tools with Determination Optimization Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Information to scale back prices and improve effectivity.
In auto elements manufacturing, injection molding is likely one of the essential processes. Yanfeng Auto supplies numerous automakers with inside elements reminiscent of instrument panels, which require a core tools of injection molding machine to provide. Because of the completely different specs of the instrument panels of varied car fashions, the manufacturing course of requires tools changeovers. For instance, when the fabric is switched from black to white, the tools must be cleaned; when switching from white to black, it doesn’t must be cleaned. Switching from gold to pink requires different further actions.
Gear switching won’t solely contain value, however have an effect on manufacturing scheduling and stock administration. For instance, how do they decide the optimum financial batch dimension of various merchandise whereas lowering stock prices? How do they steadiness the capability of a number of machines for a complete 12 months whereas assembly buyer wants? How can they estimate the capability of the machine to raised modify the plan, maximize the effectivity of the machine, improve productiveness, and cut back extra time? How will they make sure that the plan may be carried out in manufacturing and that modifications may be responded to in a well timed method once they come？
Within the context of the continual growth and alter of demand for numerous auto elements, and the truth that productiveness and manufacturing assets are very restricted, the standard manufacturing planning technique is predicated on expertise and guide calculation, which simply causes issues reminiscent of low manufacturing effectivity, excessive stock value, heavy labor burden and extra. All of this might significantly have an effect on the manufacturing effectivity of the corporate, so it’s mandatory to search out new methods to develop cheap manufacturing planning and scheduling schemes.
After rounds of discussions with consultants from IBM CSM group, IBM Specialists Lab and IBM China Improvement Lab, IBM consultants developed a complete and agile resolution for Yanfeng Auto with Determination Optimization Module of IBM Cloud Pak for Information. The answer has two complementary elements—the general multi-machine, multi-month planning scheme and the single-month effective scheduling scheme.
The answer helps practically 100 workers in additional than 20 factories to plan the capability of a whole lot of injection molding machines with extremely detailed and particular plans. Every define plan is accompanied by an correct scheduling plan, which is extremely sensible for follow-up steering for manufacturing. It’s also an agile resolution: planning a set of schemes solely takes just a few or dozens of minutes, significantly bettering the responsiveness to future modifications. If the client wants or manufacturing assets change, Yanfeng Auto can modify the plan at any time. Based mostly on an agile and customary platform, this business-friendly resolution may be simply tailored and scaled to different manufacturing services and different comparable areas.
The IBM CSM group has accompanied Yanfeng Auto on its journey of digital and clever transformation for 2 years: from the preliminary realization of computerized conversion of exterior orders to inner orders; from fixing the issue of high-speed knowledge transmission in department factories around the globe to the headquarters; from changing its open-source software with an IBM enterprise software constructed on open supply to simplify its IT operational complexity for high-availability knowledge extraction, to the most recent AI-powered options to appreciate manufacturing capability estimation and planning for its core manufacturing tools. From knowledge integration and administration to making use of AI to its enterprise course of and planning, Yanfeng Auto has been actively co-creating with IBM technical and enterprise consultants to show applied sciences to tangible enterprise values.
Yanfeng Auto is likely one of the business pioneers in China to deal with enterprise challenges with a “data-first” technique. Yanfeng Auto can be the pioneer consumer of IBM in China that has been working intently with IBM to co-create first-of-a-kind scenario-based options with IBM Cloud and AI applied sciences.
Be taught extra about IBM in China
About Yanfeng Auto
Yanfeng Auto Worldwide Automotive Expertise Co., Ltd. (known as “Yanfeng Auto”) is a world automotive elements provider, dedicated to offering carmakers and different customers with inside and seating options that meet the wants of as we speak’s and tomorrow’s driving, redefining the way in which you loosen up, work and play within the automotive. Headquartered in Shanghai, the corporate has 9 R&D bases, greater than 4,200 R&D groups, greater than 240 factories and technical facilities in 20 nations around the globe, and greater than 55,000 workers worldwide, offering world car producers with the design, growth and manufacture of auto elements merchandise. With product innovation and forward-looking analysis, Yanfeng Auto will assist automakers discover the long run, carry higher human-car interplay expertise to world auto customers, and actively promote the evolution of automotive driving expertise.
