【2020 Solutions】 ZeroDimension Tech Creates "Worry-free Factory"
"Good technologies and applications must be developed outward to serve society." The initial group of people followed the professor's footsteps in the laboratory to study popular contemporary technologies and applications. Shu-Fan Lin, CEO of ZeroDimension Tech Co., Ltd., believes that the implementation of AI in work reporting not only helps companies achieve an unmanned factory, but goes a step further to achieve a worry-free factory.
AI + IoT tradition to the future
Learning AI technology with Professor Chou at Tunghai University and often going to factories for observation and internships made Shu-Fan Lin realize: "Why not try to solve it using AI or IoT?" He noticed the pain points on site and hoped to use new methods and new technologies to solve existing problems, working with customers to find different solutions that are consistent with on-site operating models and improve past defects. This is the origin of ZeroDimension Tech.
In the past, on the production line, data basically relied on manual writing, but now using machine vision recognition, data that could only be copied with pen and paper in the past can now be recorded first-hand on-site through lenses and mobile devices and sent back to the situation room in real time. The status and problems of various indicators, such as efficiency, utilization rate, and OEE, in each factory are reported in real-time, forming a highly integrated system.
AI work reporting system improves data collection efficiency by 10 times
Shu-Fan Lin said that the recovery and processing of on-site production information is a major pain point due to oil contamination on paper and the difficulty of recognizing handwriting on reports filled out by on-site workers. At present, ZeroDimension Tech's AI work reporting system is being introduced into mechanical forging plants, using visual recognition methods to identify counters and workpieces and report work, improving the efficiency of information collection. In addition, manual filling of reports has been converted to work reporting on tablet PCs, which greatly reduces the difficulty of information collection.
The collection of information in the traditional 3K (dangerous, hard, dirty) factory environment is a big problem. From the collection and integration of production information to the generation of the final report, it will take one hour at the fastest or as slow as two to three days using manpower. The development of digitization and AI can increase the frequency of information collection to once a minute. Depending on the amount of information, reports can be generated in about 5 minutes and provide the latest information, improving efficiency by about 10 times.
▲AI work reporting system
In the current stage, the AI work reporting system can be applied to aspects of factory production and on-site, and AI can be applied to counter recognition, work piece recognition, and facial recognition for work reporting. At present, more AI applications and AI work reporting systems are being integrated to create a friendly and intelligent user experience, thereby reducing the workload of on-site operators and gradually making the site paperless. Clear information collection improves the speed of decision-making by senior managers in the situation room. ZeroDimension Tech’s future development plan is to simultaneously improve the production capacity and efficiency of companies.
As for the difficulties and challenges encountered during the development process, Shu-Fan Lin pointed out that although machine vision is able to record and store on-site images, the large amount of dust in the environment on site can easily cause inconvenience in photographing images. The dust and stains had to be removed from time to time to store clear images for recognition. It is hard to overcome technical problems of the environment and is a goal that the company must towards in the future.