THE factory of the future will be a building stuffed full of robots making robots. A factory in Amberg, a small town in Bavaria, is not quite that, but it gets close. The plant is run by Siemens, a German engineering giant, and it makes industrial computer-control systems, which are essential bits of kit used in a variety of automated systems, including the factory’s own production lines.
The Amberg plant is bright, airy and squeaky clean. It produces 15m units a year—a tenfold increase since opening in 1989, and without the building being expanded or any great increase in the 1,200 workers employed in three shifts. (Production is about 75% automated, as Siemens reckons some tasks are still best done by humans.) The defect rate is close to zero, as 99.9988% of units require no adjustment, a remarkable feat considering they come in more than 1,000 different varieties.
Such achievements are largely down to the factory’s “digital twin”. For there is another factory, a...Continue reading
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