香港自動化科技協會 專刊 (香港工業總會轄下第32分組)

HKPC-Enterprise Partnership for Success in Automation 以企業合研促進自動化生產 ‘To realise “Smart Manufacturing”, it involves the application of human wisdom to leverage machinery, not the other way around,’ said Mr Lin, a veteran industrialist with extensive experience in textile and garment business. ‘Different industries have different needs. Robots, for instance, can’t replace human craft in garment production. Instead, automated machinery can focus on performing repetitive, hazardous or relatively heavy polluted tasks to reduce wastage, boost efficiency and raise precision.’ Mr Lin observed that relatively mature businesses would be more proactive in seeking automation solutions externally because they are comparatively resourceful and have more stringent demand for advanced production equipment.HKPC applies the‘Enterprises as Partner’approach to help upgrade manufacturers by improving their products and workflow and effectively connecting existing and new production systems. So far, HKPC has reviewed the Industry 4.0 readiness about 30 companies and initiated pilot projects with six of them. Key efforts include the development of automated equipment and digitisation of manufacturing processes for the creation of a smart factory. They are expected to lower operating costs and manpower requirements significantly and increase productivity at Hong Kong-owned manufacturers in the mainland China. There are many success stories of smart manufacturing from overseas for us to learn from. For example, Siemens’ Simatic automation system factory in Amberg, Germany, has been rated as the closest to the perfect Industry 4.0 production model. It produced about 15 million Simatic products annually. Based on 230 production days per year, the factory produced one Simatic controller in a second on average, with an outstanding quality passing rate at 99.9988%. Mr Lin observes that most of Hong Kong’s manufacturing organisations based in the mainland China can be categorised as Industry 2.0 and 3.0 and it may be another ten year before the Industry 4.0 vision comes of age. Some large corporations such as TK Group and Ka Shui Group have been catching up fast. Forward-looking and having a strategic blueprint are critical to their Industry 4.0 aspirations along with the use of big data to upgrade the mode of their production from ‘automatic’ to ‘data-driven’. Industry 4.0 begins with raising productivity, moves forward to intelligent logistics, to collecting big data for analysis and forecast, ultimately to the application on production and sales. At the core of this learning curve is a strong grasp of data in satisfying customer needs. 「實踐『智能製造』，要依靠人的智慧來控制機器，而並非由 機器主導人員。」本身從事製衣業的林主席强調︰「不同行 業，有不同需要，正如機械人不能代替製衣手藝。機器可以集 中做一些重覆單調、具危險性或污染程度較高的工序，主要用 作減少損耗、提高生產效率及精準度。」 林主席觀察到，相對成熟的企業，會主動向外尋找自動化的方 案。一來他們的資金較為充裕，二來其生產線對先進設備的要 求較高。生產力局會以「企業合研」的方式，協助廠商升級轉 型，優化產品及工序，串連新舊設備互相溝通工作。現時，生 產力局已為約 30 間公司進行「工業 4.0 」分析評估，其中六間更 開展了「工業 4.0 」先導項目，研製智能自動化設備，把生產流 程數據化，以建立智能工廠，預期可為內地的港資製造企業大 幅度降低成本，提升生產效率，顯著減省人力。 談到智能製造，海外不乏成功例子。西門子位於德國安貝格的 Simatic 工業自動化系統工廠便是被公認為最接近「工業 4.0 」 生產模式的智能工廠表表者。該工廠目前每年生產約 1500 萬件 Simatic 產品，按每年生產 230 天計算，即平均每秒就能生產出 一台控制設備，產品合格率更高達 99.9988% 。林主席表示，香 港企業在內地的生產廠房，大多處於工業 2.0 、 3.0 階段，他相 信達致「工業 4.0 」的願景會在往後 10 年出現。部份大企業如東 江、嘉瑞集團等，因應行業要求，追趕速度非常迅速，關鍵在 於具有前瞻性及策略性藍圖，並能應用大數據，把生產由「自 動化」升級 至「數據化」。工業 4.0 由提升生產效率開始，再推 進到智能化物流系統，繼而收集大數據、分析、預測，最終應 用到生產以至銷售層面。歸根究底，是要掌握數據，知道顧客 的需要。 Achieving Smart Industry with 3D Printing and More 以 3D 打印等技術體現智能製造 In the past, 3D printing was mostly used for producing prototypes and first models.With technological advancements,we see a wider range of 3D printingmaterials,with enhanced quality,strength and hardness, producing products with finer surfaces and at higher 過往 3D 打印主要用來製作原型及首辦。隨著技術愈來愈進步， 打印物料的種類、質量、強度及硬度有所提升，打印出來的產 品外觀較細緻，生產速度亦加快。由於市場趨向追求個性化產 品，訂單趨向「款多量少」，開設模具生產未必乎合成本效 21 Connecting Practitioners 業界專訪