NEC : Formation of Flexible Factory Partner Alliance to Accelerate Use of IoT in Factories

Background and Outlook
In response to fierce international competition resulting from increased globalization, as well as labor shortages and a reduced number of skilled workers due to falling birthrates and aging populations, utilizing ICT in manufacturing to improve productivity is seen as a critical issue. Given that 'visualization' in production equipment and production status is moving forward to improve productivity, and as product development cycles have shortened in recent years, there has been a demand for greater flexibility in the configuration of production facilities equipment and in modifying the production line construction. As a means of achieving greater flexibility, there are rising expectations for wireless communications as an important technology. In fact, there has been an increasing trend of manufacturing facilities deploying wireless communications on a trial basis, and then based on these trials, fully implementing such wireless systems.

At the same time, a major issue in wireless communications in factories where various wireless systems coexist is communication instability due to interference between wireless systems and the impact that it has on equipment operation. There had previously been few efforts, however, to resolve this sort of wireless communication issue in manufacturing facilities.

To find solutions for the above issues, OMRON, ATR, Sanritz, NICT, NEC, Fujitsu, and Murata Machinery have been conducting trials of wireless communications and evaluating the wireless environment in factories. These companies and organizations have at academic conferences and other venues broadly proposed coordination control technology that would enable stability in communications. This would work by controlling independent wireless systems for each piece of equipment, with specific use cases in actual manufacturing facilities in mind.

Now these companies have come together to form the Flexible Factory Partner Alliance to promote the formulation of standards for coordination control technology. This will thereby ensure stable communications in an environment where various wireless systems coexist, as well as promote their use and further accelerate the adoption of wireless systems in manufacturing facilities. Professor Andreas Dengel of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) has been appointed the chairperson of this alliance.

Through the initiatives of this alliance, the partners will work to meet expectations for a new industrial revolution accompanying the spread of the use of IoT in manufacturing facilities.