The World Economic Forum has inducted 21 manufacturing operations into its Industry 4.0 hall-of-fame based on their usage of sundry digital tech, notably AI, to raise productivity, reduce wastage, and drive sustainability – and to generally withstand the crosswinds of political, economic, environmental, and other global tensions. Another four manufacturing sites have been highlighted for their “sustainability-focused technology breakthroughs”.
Like the forum’s so-called Industry 4. 0 Global Lighthouse Network, China-founded production sites dominate the list. In total, the World Economic Forum has identified 153 facilities, as well as “value chains”, as Industry 4. 0 “beacons of production”. “; 17 of them are classified as “Sustainability Beacons”. Of the new plants listed on the production and sustainability lists, more than a portion (13 out of 25) are founded in China.
Others were founded in Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the United States. The World Economic Forum said 85 percent of its new members suffered a loss of earnings of less than 10 percent at their peak. of the COVID-19 pandemic, while “only 14 percent of other brands can say the same,” he said. The organization praised its “unprecedented point of virtual maturity [and] the immediate proliferation of artificial intelligence. “
The World Economic Forum also noted that the majority (82%) cite “scale” as the ultimate vital design focus for virtual-use instances and transformation systems, and warned that their own transformation systems have proven to “execute deployments at scale. “from the beginning. ” He says, “Everyone at Lighthouse has noticed a significant effect on at least one, and often dozens, of complex AI practical use cases. “
McKinsey
Kiva Allgood, director of the World Economic Forum’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, said: “The Global Lighthouse Network exemplifies the strength of virtual transformation. Lighthouses are paving the way for unprecedented global impact, strategically embedding innovation into their extensive network. Sculpt a long-term sustainable and an era of transformative and lasting change.
Enno de Boer, global director of operations technology at McKinsey
Sustainability Headlights (4)
Johnson
Kenvue (Bangkok, Thailand)Kenvue Thailand deployed Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies for more sustainable resource management across site operations. This includes an end-to-end water-to-ecosystem performance management system, a digital twin to optimize chiller system energy consumption, and a dynamic scheduling and container loading optimization solution that leverages data analytics and robotic process automation. From 2018 to 2023, the site reduced water utility intake by 35%, energy-related consumption (scope 1&2) by 34%, correlating GHG emissions by 29%, normalized for production volumes, and container utilization improved by 35% leading to more efficient transportation.
Schneider Electric (Hyderabad, India)The Schneider Electric plant in Hyderabad aims for a goal of zero carbon emissions in scopes 1 and 2 until 2030, building a solid core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This includes a closed-loop E2E formula with CO2 tracking for strategic purposes. suppliers. The formula is based on real-time insight generation and cloud analytics for all facility assets that are connected to the shop floor operations, an IIoT-enabled EQ, and AI-based predictive monitoring. This has led to a 59% relief in energy consumption, a 61% relief in CO2 emissions, a 57% relief in water intake and a 64% relief in standardized waste generation.
Siemens (Chengdu, People’s Republic of China) To become a pioneer in zero-carbon emissions amid a 92% production expansion in the past three years, Siemens’ Chengdu plant implemented a holistic virtual energy control formula and implemented predictive maintenance throughout the manufacturing process. based automation to identify and manage up to 16 types of production waste and implemented eco-design functionalities for circularity and dematerialization. This resulted in a relief in the unit energy consumption of the products by 24% and in production waste by 48%.
Factory Headlights
ACG Capsules (Pithampur, India) To keep going in a fiercely competitive market, pharmaceutical supplier ACG Capsules has prioritized amazing product production, responsiveness, scaling up production yields, and workforce productivity. To achieve this, ACG Capsules has deployed more than 25 instances of Fourth Industrial Revolution use, powered through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), twin virtual arrays, prolonged truth, and generative AI. Effective adoption of those usage instances resulted in 98% relief in critical defects, 39% relief in production lead time, 51% relief in overall waste, and a 44% increase in production productivity. workforce.
Agilent (Waldbronn, Germany)Amid fluctuations in demand, a strong expansion of more than 50%, disruptions in the supply chain, and product conversion needs, Agilent Waldbronn has brought more than 25 Fourth Industrial Revolution-like roles and 20 relevant usage instances to address the challenges. Its high-volume, blended life sciences production platform benefited from the answers in its Fourth Industrial Revolution toolbox, adding AI and IIoT programs for simulation and immediate forecasting. The facility achieved a 35% increase in quality, a 44% increase in productivity, and a 48% increase in production, ultimately allowing for the expansion of market share.
AMOREPACIFIC (Osan, South Korea)To stand out in the cosmetics industry, global beauty company AMOREPACIFIC used Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI and 3D printing to optimize manufacturing process design, accelerate new product introductions and improve flexibility. This reduced new product lead time by 50% and defects by 54%. It also enabled a new business model for manufactured-in-store customized cosmetics, with over 800,000 unique products offered.
Aramco (Yanbu, Saudi Arabia) To gain a competitive advantage as a leading fuel supplier while minimizing its carbon footprint, this 1970s Aramco refinery underwent a five-year strategic transformation in favor of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, implementing and integrating large-scale use cases, adding an AI-based blank fuel optimizer, an AI-based operational resolution system and a dynamic virtual dual model. As a result, on-spec fuel production has reached 99%, greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions have been reduced by 23%. and operational readiness has increased by 17%.
CATL (Liyang, People’s Republic of China)To address soaring demand and increasing labour costs, and to meet its carbon neutrality commitment, CATL Liyang applied big data to simulate quality-testing, additive manufacturing to reduce changeover times, computer vision to achieve micron-level quality inspection, and deep learning to optimize process controls and energy management. This has resulted in a 320% output increase, a 33% reduction in manufacturing costs, a 47.4% reduction in normalized emissions and a 99% reduction in quality defects. Defect measurement has been upgraded from “per million” to “per billion”.
CITIC Pacific Special Steel (Jiangyin, People’s Republic of China)To meet the fast-growing global demand for customized steel products while navigating volatile raw material and energy-supply issues, CITIC Pacific Special Steel’s Jiangyin Xingcheng plant deployed 40+ Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases such as advanced analytics-powered process simulation and optimization, as well as AI-enabled energy management. As a result, the plant has been able to increase customized orders by 35.3%, reduce its non-qualified product rate by 47.3% and cut its energy consumption by 10.5% per tonne of steel.
China Resources Building Materials Technology (Tianyang, People’s Republic of China)To address the requirements of green and low-carbon development, higher quality expectations and cost pressures, Tianyang site, a cement factory under China Resources Building Materials Technology Holdings, has deployed 30+ Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases with advanced analytics, autonomous driving and IIoT to improve energy, labour and equipment efficiency and quality performance. As a result, the site has reduced carbon emissions by 24%, increased labour productivity by 105%, reduced unplanned downtime by 56% and improved quality consistency by 25%.
GAC AION (Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China) To meet the growing demand for reliable and custom-designed electric vehicles, GAC AION has deployed more than 40 instances of Fourth Industrial Revolution use to provide consumers with more than 100,000 quick and qualified configuration functions and solutions. Deliveries. The fully automated production line supports the combined production of made-to-order and out-of-stock models, expanding production power by 50%, reducing lead times by 33%, expanding first-step yields by 8%, and reducing production prices by 58%.
Haier (Hefei, People’s Republic of China) The emergence of a new middle class and the increase in the number of customers in China have led to a shift from a split air conditioning (AC) formula to a central air conditioning formula, which has greater needs in terms of quality and energy efficiency. Haier’s air conditioning factory in Hefei has implemented complex algorithms, virtual twins, wisdom graphs, and other complex technologies in studies and progression (R
Hengtong Alpha Optic-Electric (Suzhou, People’s Republic of China)Facing higher cost pressures as well as quality and green production expectations from the international market, Hengtong Alpha accelerated the large-scale application of advanced analytics, machine vision and AI technology across 27 advanced use cases covering the whole production value chain. As a result, unit manufacturing costs have decreased by 21%, the defect rate has reduced by 52% and unit power consumption has fallen by 33%.
Ingrasys, Foxconn Industrial Internet (Taoyuan, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China) The rapid evolution of basic AI models has led to an explosion in demand for computing power and increased demands for efficiency, quality, and iteration speed for AI servers. By implementing AI usage instances in the order forecasting, production and warehouse planning, product design, quality, and meeting testing spaces, Foxconn Industrial Internet’s Taiwanese factory achieved a 73% increase in production efficiency, 97% relief in product defects, and 21% relief in product defects. Reduction of delivery times and 39% minimization in production unit costs.
K-water (Hwaseong, South Korea) The climate crisis has caused significant problems in water sources, as heat waves and heavy rainfall create more volatile and murky supplies. To solve this problem, K-water introduced a next-generation AI water treatment plant to reduce production costs, improve responsiveness, and decrease human error. It is expanding to more than 40 more sites and has helped K-water reduce chemical use by 19%, improve paint potency by 42%, and reduce energy consumption by 10%. .
LONGi Solar (Jiaxing, People’s Republic of China) Driven by a preference for reducing costs, quality, and shortening delivery times for solar modules, the Jiaxing site has implemented more than 30 Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases, employing artificial intelligence and complex analytics to bring it to life. production operations. These efforts have had significant impacts, as the site has achieved 28% relief in production unit costs, 43% relief in yield loss, and 84% relief in production times in one year, while also reducing energy consumption by 20%.
Mondelēz (Beijing, People’s Republic of China) Satisfied with the sustainability ambitions of Mondelēz Global and the City of Beijing, while meeting Mondelēz’s expansion ambitions and addressing operating rate pressures due to 6% annual inflation in hard-working rates, Mondelēz Beijing has implemented 38 use cases of the fourth use of the industrial revolution, as well as an AI-powered pulp manufacturing workshop and a fuel consumption optimization based on device learning. As a result, Mondelēz Beijing achieved a net 28% expansion in profits and a 53% increase in hard-work productivity, while reducing GHG emissions by 24% and food waste by 29%.
ReNew (Ratlam, Madya Pradesh, India) To maximize productivity, rationalize prices, and redeploy the existing workforce to operation and maintenance functions (OR
VitrA Karo (Bozüyük, Turkey)Rising energy costs and inflation have affected energy costs and the labor-intensive ceramic tile production process. For its competitiveness while meeting higher demands and offering a complex portfolio of more than 4,200 SKUs, the VitrA Karo site in Bozüyük was set up. your virtual transformation roadmap, focusing on intelligent procedures and production controls. This resulted in a 19% increase in OEE, a 56% reduction in waste, a 14% reduction in energy consumption and a 43% increase in the use of recycled material. content.
Value Chain Beacons
DHL Supply Chain (Memphis, Tennessee, USA) Faced with a developing e-commerce market driven by retail promotions and the shift in customer intake from offline to online orders, in addition to strong seasonal impacts, DHL Supply Chain in Memphis, Tennessee, has established a strategic site for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, provided with a tower for centralized planning and execution monitoring to manage and E2E operations. This site seamlessly integrates robots, analytics, and a flexible staffing solution, resulting in 50% relief in overtime, a 57% relief in shipping cycle time, and a 290% capacity increase, leading to a compound annual expansion rate (CAGR) of 28% since 2019. As a result, the site has become a cherished educational hub for the global adoption of new technologies.
Haier (Qingdao, People’s Republic of China) To stay ahead of the industry in terms of pricing and solve the usual problems of unprofessional and delayed installations in the home appliance industry, Haier has implemented 136 Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases to reduce purchasing. pricing and productivity and quality of facilities, employing technologies that aggregate 5. 5G, complex algorithms, and out-of-the-box virtual twins. This initiative resulted in a 32% optimization of product prices, a 36% increase in labor productivity, and an 85% alleviation in service claims.
Johnson & Johnson (Xi’an, People’s Republic of China)To improve agility and responsiveness, raise quality standards and enhance competitiveness, Johnson & Johnson Xi’an replaced its manual facility with a Fourth Industrial Revolution-enabled new factory in 2019. This facility includes digital twins for technology transfer and material handling, intelligent automation of continued process verification (CPV) and batch execution processes. This has shortened the product transfer time by 64% during site relocation and has enabled a 60% decrease in non-conformance, while improving productivity by 40%, operating costs by 24% and GHG emissions by 26%.
Kenvue (Shanghai, People’s Republic of China) To keep up with the expansion of e-commerce, faster time-to-market, and fluctuating demands similar to increased rate competitiveness, Kenvue Shanghai has implemented more than 25 Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases, adding Big Data. analytics in social media, virtual twins, additive manufacturing and ML across your E2E price chain. This has resulted in a 50% relief in new product arrival times, a 1. 3x improvement in forecast accuracy, and 99. 8% on-time accuracy. Delivery within 48 hours. This has allowed e-commerce activity to double from 30% to 60% of total business.
Unilever (Sonepat, India)To improve agility and cater to diverse product segments, reduce costs in an inflationary environment and improve sustainability, Unilever Sonepat implemented 30+ Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases in its E2E supply chain. Top use cases included boiler and spray dryer process twins, as well as customer data-informed no-touch production planning and inventory optimization. This improved service by 18%, forecast accuracy by 53%, conversion cost by 40% and Scope 1 carbon footprint by 88%. The use of biofuels enabled by a boiler process twin also supports livelihoods for local farmers.