Consumers know what they want, and, with
growth of e-commerce, they have high expecta-
tions on getting it their way. However, in the world
of mass production, how does the manufacturer
offer that? The answer is the adaptive machine
and a batch size of one. The technology is out
there to make these machines.
John Kowal, portfolio & marketing, B&R In-
dustrial Automation, answers several questions
regarding the expectations, technology and ma-
chines fulfilling the needs of a batch size of one.Q: What is batch size one, and why is it important?
A: The digital consumer wants what they want,
when and how they want it. Who wouldn’t want
products that are built to their individual orders, are
affordable and sustainable? That’s batch size one.
It’s been an unattainable goal of manufacturing for
decades because automation tends to produce a
high volume of the same or very similar products,
and customization comes with either a high labor
cost or a long shipping lead time.
Yet, digital business models depend on meeting
the online consumer’s high expectations. Meal kits
are a good example, popular but labor-intensive to
assemble, dampening profitability. The cost of con-
sumer choice is also evident in the massive fulfill-
ment centers and supply chain networks carrying
the inventories required to deliver goods overnight
to e-commerce customers.
What’s needed is a new form of automation, one
that doesn’t depend on a sequential process but
instead adapts to the product being made. This is
the adaptive machine.Q: How does the adaptive machine achieve mass
customization?
A: The core of the adaptive machine is a track-
and-shuttle system that independently controls
individual products or kits on each shuttle. Assem-
bly, finishing, inspection and packaging are per-formed at the appropriate stations while queuing
is avoided by a number of schemes. Products are
tracked as they travel through the system and ship
direct to consumer or a retail outlet from the end of
the production line.
Both the adaptive machine and robotic worksta-
tions can be collaborative, working hand-in-hand
with human operators for tasks that still require
intervention. The concept of changeover becomes
obsolete, because each production cycle is inde-
pendent. Instead of building to stock, everything is
built to order. There are no finished-goods invento-
ries and no end-of-season clearance sales.
The track concept is not new, but the software,
along with affordable processing power to make it
practical, is, thanks to Moore’s Law. A digital twin
simulates operation, optimizing the number of
shuttles, stations and paths and reconfiguring to
changing requirements.Q: Where are adaptive machines being used today?
A: In just the past few years, adaptive-machine
technology has gone to work in the food-and-
beverage, cosmetics, medical-device, industrial-SPONSORED CONTENT
How to achieve batch size one with
the adaptive machine
JOHN KOWAL
Portfolio & Marketing,
B&R Industrial Automation
SIMULATION USING THE DIGITAL TWIN
The shuttle and track technologies, as well as the individual
product flow of a non-sequential manufacturing process, can be
simulated to optimize efficient batch-size-one production.36 / May 2019 / ControlDesign.comcomponent and consumer-electronics in-
dustries, to name a few. Adoption is both
demand-driven and practical.
For example, cosmetics are totally
market-driven. Consumers can design
their own fragrances, shades, lipstick
cases and compacts, commanding a
premium price. On the other hand, sur-
gical kits and pharmaceuticals need to
be customized to the patient, serialized,
tracked, traced and verified, and the
adaptive-machine automation performs
these tasks cost-effectively.
One of the earliest commercialized
adaptive machines blends and dispenses
beverages to order, fills different size
bottles, applies the appropriate closures,
prints personalized labels, collates and
packs for shipment to the consumer.
Imagine ordering beverages for a family
outing with individualized flavors, bottle
sizes and everyone’s names on their
bottles, and then having them shipped
directly to your destination. Imagine the
customer satisfaction, achieved with-
out the inefficiencies of today’s rainbow
packing process, which typically involves
repacking a fixed variety of flavors at a
distribution center.The range of adaptive-machine appli-
cations is broad:- custom orthotics and prosthetics
- medical implants and surgical kits
- athletic helmets, gloves, ski boots
- confectionary assortments and gift
baskets - eyeglasses, earbuds, hearing aids
- pharmaceutical regimens
- wristwatches, fitness bands, jewelry
- meal kits and frozen entrees
- aftermarket automotive components.
Q: Does the adaptive machine represent
disruptive technology?
A: Absolutely. Alongside additive manu-
facturing and robotics and tying together
advanced manufacturing cells, the adap-
tive machine’s ability to build to order
means a product is not produced until it
has been sold. Finished-goods inventory
becomes largely unnecessary.
With radically flexible production capa-
bilities, centralized factories can be sup-
planted by adaptable regional plants that
can deliver locally overnight or even same
day, while reducing transportation cost
and energy consumption.
The online ordering experience allows the
consumer to select components—for exam-
ple, watch hands, stem, dial, case, watch-
band—literally creating the recipe used by
the adaptive machine to produce the end
product, replenish stock and identify trend-
ing product configurations in real time.Q: How does the adaptive machine
change machine building?
A: The change from sequential flow is
most profound. Typically, fewer shuttles
and simpler track configurations are
required and then expected becauseproduction flow is more efficient. These
requirements are determined in simu-
lation, which also means that various
production scenarios can be proven and
machine designs optimized before mak-
ing any capital commitment.
B&R Industrial Automation provides
the simulation tools and engineering sup-
port to familiarize new machine builders
and systems integrators with the capa-
bilities of its adaptive-machine technolo-
gies. These simulations form the digital
twins that will be used to model ongoing
changes to the installed systems.
The track and shuttle systems bring
a new level of modularity to machine
design, which lends itself well to simula-
tion and provides an inherently scalable,
building-block approach.
The scalability in turn encourages re-
peat business for the machine builder
as expanded capabilities are built on in-
stalled systems that the incumbent origi-
nally designed.For more information about B&R
Industrial Automation products,
simulation tools and engineering support,
please visit http://www.br-automation.com.SPONSORED CONTENT
ControlDesign.com / May 2019 / 37MEET THE ADAPTIVE MACHINE
Adaptive machines can be collaborative, allowing human operators and robots to work side-by-side.