Operating a next-generation production system
This May, Konica Minolta began operations in earnest at its new production facility in Malaysia, known as Konica Minolta Technologies (Malaysia) (KMMY). This facility is the company’s first base of operations for its revolutionary “digital manufacturing” production system. The site uses a system that’s ground-breaking in every sense of the word to increase quality, improve production efficiency, and save energy; it could truly be called the next generation of manufacturing. The new system revolutionizes the production process, significantly reducing its environmental impact. But how was this system created?
“‘Digital Manufacturing’ is a means to an end that can be found in workflow innovation,” says Shingo Asai, Senior Executive Officer at Konica Minolta and head of the firm’s Business Technologies production headquarters. “Until now, we’ve pursued a number of policies on all sides, from the development stage to the production site. We’ve employed modulization and unit production in order to reduce wastes of energy and resources; we’ve reduced the number of parts in our devices, making them more lightweight. With digital manufacturing, in addition to this accumulated knowledge, we’ve revolutionized the manufacturing process from the ground up and implemented a system designed to completely optimize production and minimize resource consumption.”
The twin keys to these achievements are ICT and automation technology. To cite a specific example of reduced resource consumption, the internal divisions produce a huge amount of paperwork on a day-by-day basis. With a system that cuts that paperwork down to only what is truly necessary—one that can use ICT to organize and share it automatically—paper will no longer be necessary. It would also allow Konica Minolta to consolidate the number of printers and PCs used for document creation. Furthermore, by using ICT to link the data collected from the sensors on the production line with the management cockpit, supervisors can predict in advance when production defects will occur and respond appropriately. Because of such precautions, they are able to fix production operations and reduce unnecessary disposal.
The goals of automation, on the other hand, are improvements in speed, accuracy and a reduction in waste. Using robots to support accurate production minimizes disparities in quality and the number of defective products. In other words, the amount of energy and resources expended and waste generated in the production process is decreased, reducing the environmental burden. Efficiency and environmental responsibility are connected on every level.
Accelerating efficiency with open source
Asai says the important point in optimizing the efficiency of digital manufacturing is connectedness—and being open.
“By connecting everything from engineering to production—and, in the future, the customer base —through ICT and the IoT, we can monitor the production line and the operation of our products in real time, as well as apply current analyses and operational indicators. We will also be able to provide information and know-how from not only our firm, but our suppliers. This connection will allow us to accelerate our efficiency.”
By developing its overseas production bases early on, Konica Minolta has been sharing its in-house manufacturing technology and know-how with local suppliers, and work together with them to cut costs and make other improvements. Through its inhouse implementation of digital manufacturing, Konica Minolta will also be sharing its methods of decreasing the environmental impact with its suppliers. By sharing its accumulated information and in-house knowledge via an open-source model, Konica Minolta aims to amplify dramatically the impact of its innovations.
“There are limits to what we can do in response to environmental issues with in-house initiatives alone. It is important, then, that we are open in sharing information with suppliers with no financial ties with our company, thereby increasing our impact significantly. In regards to digital manufacturing as well, we’ve already discussed our ideas with our clients, and our suppliers in Japan, Malaysia, China, and South Korea agree with this direction.”
In the future, ICT will connect Konica Minolta’s Malaysia production base, its overseas suppliers, and its management cockpit in Japan, allowing for manufacturing data to be monitored, adjustments to be made automatically, and the occurrence of defective products to be sharply reduced.
By operating a global network in this manner, Konica Minolta will establish a production system with a low environmental impact that is flexible, with an impact independent of individual persons, sites, countries, or other changes.
Growth and the environment in Asia
Many of Konica Minolta’s local production sites and suppliers are concentrated in the booming Asia region. We asked Asai for his thoughts on growth and environmental impact in the region.
“The countries in a growth pattern will probably not follow the same path to growth that the West and Japan did. With the differences in the infrastructure environment, the nations of Asia are leapfrogging over landlines in favor of the diffusion of mobile phones. Similarly, a variety of technologies are also being introduced in digital formats. The digital printing systems on which our company is focused provide output on demand as needed, when that output is needed, in the exact quantities needed; it’s a waste-free model that’s very environmentally friendly.
“It was thought that our system will not be able to be sold in Asia due to the high initial outlay, but the reality proved to be quite different. We’ve encountered cases where digital has been the choice right from the very start. Asia’s economy is in dynamic motion, and it’s better to believe, we think, that demand in the region will mirror that of the West. In addition, concern for the environment is sharply on the rise in many nations. Therefore, we think that a system that facilitates both economic development and lower energy and resource consumption should be actively promoted in Asia as well.”
At Konica Minolta, environmental practices are treated as corporate practices. The operation of KMMY is sure to become a model for addressing environmental issues. The revolution it will prompt in Asia—and the world—demands our future attention.
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