A holistic perspective on smart manufacturing

In The Year in Tech 2024: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review, scholar David De Cremer wrote, "This year, tech is driven not primarily by new technologies, but by new integrations that are more advanced and efficient in existing technologies." This is especially true for smart manufacturing, a field marked by the integration of ICT (information and communications technology) and OT (operational technology). This merging of previously separate domains is creating digital production lines that are more efficient and adaptable than anything seen previously.

Huawei has over 30 years of experience in manufacturing, and has accumulated a large amount of data that can support the innovation and evolution of smart manufacturing. Since 2015, we have been

upgrading our own production systems to make them standardized, automated, digital, intelligent, and capable of being continually improved. We have summarized this upgrade as a program of “vertical, horizontal, and all-around security integrations.”

Vertical integration: connecting all elements through the Industrial IoT

When they think about smart manufacturing, many enterprises tend to focus only on the production process flow, including factory automation, process improvement, and efficiency gains. Huawei, by contrast, has created two other flows for smart manufacturing.

The first is the engineering data flow, which integrates and digitalizes design and manufacturing activities. This means the digitalization of the entire process, from product R&D and innovation all the way to manufacturing. The engineering data flow has shortened our product development and trial-run period by 20%, and cut manufacturability problems by 30%.

Second is the business information flow, which visualizes customer order information, allowing us to more quickly deliver products to customers and partners. Through the business information flow, we have achieved large-scale customization, intelligent and balanced production scheduling, and on-time material kitting based on customer requirements.

Horizontal integration: efficient collaboration and interconnectivity

A cross-industry smart manufacturing value chain has already taken shape across the globe, with high-level division of labor and collaboration. This means it is necessary for manufacturing enterprises to expand the boundaries of their data and exchange data with their suppliers, partners, customers, and even other industries. 

To that end, it is essential to realize effective data-sharing between industries and enterprises, while ensuring they respect each other's data sovereignty. Data is inherently non-exclusive and easy to disseminate and replicate. It is also difficult to confirm data ownership and assess its value. As a result, there is naturally a lack of trust between enterprises when they exchange data.

To address this problem, we have developed an Enterprise Data Space (EDS) that enables us to exchange and share data with ecosystem and industry partners. The EDS can clearly define data responsibilities and ownership and effectively control data flows and exchanges between enterprises and industries, thus realizing efficient interconnectivity throughout the value chain. 

Security integration: An all-around security system based on zero trust

An integrated manufacturing system connects an enterprise's employees, devices, and applications, and carries a vast amount of manufacturing data. When being attacked by hackers, such a system faces the risk of information leakage, and may even cause production to be halted.

Just as more powerful train engines require better braking systems, larger smart manufacturing systems require better security.

Huawei implements the hierarchical management of multiple scenarios and security domains based on zero trust. Our zero trust security solutions and services have helped us build one-stop security detection and operations capabilities and ensured the security of the entire manufacturing system by overseeing manufacturing security strategies, private manufacturing networks, machines, segment-based application isolation, and impact control, and by perceiving and tracking the dynamic situation of manufacturing security.

AI, the biggest transformation of the modern era, is reshaping the traditional manufacturing model. Based on algorithms and large-language models, we have integrated high-quality enterprise data with manufacturing scenarios to develop powerful applications. For example, we have incorporated AI into equipment processing for intelligent equipment visual inspections and equipment programming. We have also integrated AI algorithms with process know-how for smart recommendation of dispensing parameters, welding parameters, and so on. Furthermore, we have integrated AI with manufacturing know-how to build a knowledge foundation model and an intelligent assistant for the manufacturing industry.

Jumping with a parachute we made ourselves

Huawei has dived deep into smart manufacturing and launched smart factory solutions for the manufacturing industry. Our solutions that integrate IP, industrial PON, 5G, and other technologies can facilitate the seamless connection of equipment on a large scale across multiple scenarios. With data collection efficiency of 1 million data points per second, our solutions have connected the engineering data flow, business information flow, and production process flow. This has effectively supported enterprises in transforming production models, improving production efficiency, and promoting green and sustainable development.

The vertical, horizontal, and security integrations have fueled manufacturing innovation and growth, and the incorporation of intelligence into manufacturing brings several advantages for both enterprises and their employees. Enterprises can now better understand the market, more accurately allocate resources, and make more scientific decisions during operations and management. Employees can work more efficiently and constantly innovate. Eventually, these developments will help enterprises gain more competitive advantages for future development.