GCC-HAWA MAGAZINE VOL 89: INTEGRATING SMART SOLUTIONS IN A SMART FACTORY

In difficult times, the demand for furniture is always lower than other essential products. To survive and develop, wood processing enterprises need to have the right investment strategy

One of the main reasons of the current crisis is the . Russian-Ukrainian war and its global political and . economic consequences. No one can predict exactly how or when this crisis will be resolved, and how long the consequences will last. Most of the companies in the furniture industry's success will depend on the adaptability of the market to cope with this new reality, by finding durable and flexible solutions

"Don't waste a good crisis"

To cope with the current situation, one of the important solutions is to improve internal resources, equip the factory with technology, machines, automation, etc. Adapting to the new reality by approaching and implementing new technology and processes will become increasingly important. This not only helps businesses to increase the internal efficiency and flexibility but will also be a condition for their survival and development in the future. There is a very trusted quote by Winston Churchill: "Never let a good crisis go to waste". This may seem suspicious at first. But I believe the key message is that the crisis provides a unique opportunity to turn problems into new solutions. Companies should use this time to invest wisely in transforming their factories into smart factories, which helps to adapt and be ready when the economy recovers. To be more confident with their decisions, businesses can look for consulting units for advice. These units can help businesses develop a wise transformation plan according to their actual needs and budgets.

If not now, when ?

During this time, when enterprises in the wood industry are under pressure because of declining orders, GCC has received many requests from businesses wishing to improve their efficiency

This is the best time to restructure for companies which have enough financial reserves. It will be difficult to say which technology is the most appropriate for wood industry enterprises in this context because each company has its own characteristics, efficiency and internal processes and their urgent needs are also different. The first solution is to address the most pressing problems. I always advise businesses to start by identifying the pain-points. Before consulting, GCC usually analyzes the customers' factory to identify these points, from which to start the process. There's a trend that's been going on for quite some time long and will continue to increase even faster in the future: customizable interiors. Customers expect personalized furniture for the same price as mass-produced furniture. This concept is only possible when the entire manufacturing process is operational and seamlessly integrated from first contact with the customer (point of sales) to final production (CAD/CAM, MES). This is called Batch-Size-1 production. Batch-Size-1 production requires several integrated processes. The order in most cases is: 1) Point of sales: This is the platform that handles the first contact (B2B) or (B2C) and generates the design and sales information. 2) CAD/CAM: This is the part where the software transfers the design from the POS to technical drawings, machine data and other production data. Ideally, POS and CAD/CAM are integrated into a single platform to avoid human error and speed up the process. 3) Manufacturing Execution System (MES): MES acts as a digital production optimization and feedback tool between CAD/CAM production data and the manufacturing part. GCC is the certified agent for MPDV, a German software company that offers one of the most powerful MES solution which is HYDRA X. GCC can also support other intelligent systems such as enterprise resource planning. (ERP).

With that said, customers expect personalized furniture for the same price as mass-produced furniture. This demand seemed to be impossible to meet before, but now highly automation, integrated design for mass production efficiency will meet it. There are 3 factors that make it work: 1) Having a good factory layout with “smart” machines, which is capable of communicating and integrated in digital processes. 2) “Smart” software that contains design and manufacturing rules in a single database and/or can communicate with different databases. 3) “Smart” people understand the interrelationships between various (digital) processes, from design to production, and can establish rules and operate different systems. The smart factory model is a concept that implies the integration of smart machines with intelligent software solutions. This is a concept that GCC is developing together with local and international universities as well as its industry partners and customers. In all investment decisions, businesses need to be smart in integrating smart solutions in a smart factory. It's better to start one step at a time, as the transition is an ongoing process