Review of Academician Yang Shuzi’s “Development and Research of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology and Intelligent Manufacturing System”

On the evening of November 4, 2022, the well-known educator and intelligent manufacturing expert in China, Academician Yang Shuzi, the old president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, rode a crane to the west and left us forever. Academician Yang Shuzi is not only the pioneer in the field of intelligent manufacturing in my country, but also the main advocate of humanistic quality education in Chinese universities. The monument of the master will always inspire our intelligent manufacturing workers to move forward!

Image source: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Today, I revisited the paper “Development and Research of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology and Intelligent Manufacturing System” written by Academician Yang Shuzi in 1992. I deeply realized the great foresight of Academician Yang Shuzi, so I wrote this article and reviewed this article. The wonderful content of the pioneering work in the field of intelligent manufacturing in China and my learning and thinking.
 
This paper was published in China Mechanical Engineering, Volume 3, Issue 2, 1992. The authors are Academician Yang Shuzi and Professor Ding Hong. Professor Ding Hong is also my teacher. He taught us “Signal Processing Technology”. In recent years, he has been engaged in the research and industrialization of distributed databases. Although it has been 30 years, this paper is very forward-looking, accurate, and has important guiding significance for the prospect of intelligent manufacturing technology. The thesis is divided into three parts: the research background and development status of intelligent manufacturing system, existing problems, research directions and topics. The logic is clear and concise, which points out the direction for the development of intelligent manufacturing technology.

Why Smart Manufacturing? what is it?

The first part of the paper introduces the research background and development status of intelligent manufacturing system.
 
The paper points out that in the face of market competition requirements for products with small batches, many varieties, high quality and fast updating, as well as the comprehensive influence of various social factors, the automation of the manufacturing process faces many problems, and through integrated manufacturing technology, artificial intelligence, etc. A new type of manufacturing engineering developed, Intelligent Manufacturing Technology (IMT) and Intelligent Manufacturing System (IMS), can help us meet the challenges. The core issue of the manufacturing process is the intelligence of manufacturing and manufacturing technology.
 
The paper proposes that IMT refers to a highly flexible and highly integrated way in all aspects of the manufacturing industry, through computer simulation of the intelligent activities of human experts, to analyze, judge, reason, conceive and make decisions, aiming to replace or extend the manufacturing environment. Part of the brain activity of middle-aged people; collect, store, improve, share, inherit and develop the manufacturing intelligence of human experts. The basic feature of future industrial production should be knowledge-intensive, and the fundamental of manufacturing automation is decision-making automation. The paper points out that the purpose of discussing the connotation and prospect of intelligent manufacturing and defining manufacturing intelligence is to model the skills and expert knowledge of manufacturing technicians by integrating knowledge engineering, manufacturing software systems, robot vision and robot control, so that intelligent machines can Produce small batches without human intervention.
 
The picture shows Uncle Yang with his students in 1995
 
The paper analyzes the relationship between CIMS (Computer Integrated Manufacturing System) and IMS, and points out that CIMS emphasizes the integration of intra-enterprise logistics and information flow, while IMS emphasizes the self-organization capability of the entire manufacturing process in a wider range. Integration is the foundation of intelligence, and intelligence will in turn drive higher levels of integration .
 
The paper emphasizes that many types and levels of “intelligent islands” oriented to specific links and specific problems in the manufacturing process have been developed in China at that time, and the comprehensive intelligent research work oriented to the manufacturing environment has just started.
 
The paper pointed out that the team of Academician Yang Shuzi first discussed the research problem of “intelligent manufacturing” at the “Future of Machinery Manufacturing” seminar organized by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 1988, and paid close attention to international research trends.
 
The first part of the paper finally emphasizes that intelligent manufacturing is the manufacturing technology of the 21st century, and the double I (Integration & Intelligence) as its characteristic will be the basic track on which the manufacturing industry in the 21st century will move forward. Intelligent manufacturing is an important task facing from the information age to the intelligent age.

Three core elements of intelligent manufacturing

In the second part of the thesis, Academician Yang Shuzi pointed out that modern industrial production as an organic whole is subject to technology (including production system), people (including social groups that indirectly affect the production process) and economy (including market competition and social competition) restricted by three factors.
 
The paper points out that, from a technical point of view, the outstanding problems that need to be solved to promote intelligent manufacturing are the standardization, standardization and generalization of products and technologies, automatic information exchange forms and interfaces, and manufacturing intelligence sharing.
 
The paper proposes that, from the perspective of human factors, experts in all aspects of the enterprise should fully cooperate and work in parallel; the expression of knowledge should exist in multiple levels and types, which are easy to understand and apply; human factors have an important role in the degree of automation of modern production. play a key role in. From the perspective of economic factors, the IMS system emphasizes the overall improvement of the production and economic benefits of the manufacturing process, and helps enterprises to improve their market competitiveness. Developed countries generally have the problem of high labor cost and lack of skilled workers and technicians, but the application of IMS system will make developed countries no longer rely on cheap labor from developing countries. Therefore, only by developing IMS with its own characteristics can China win more opportunities in the competition of manufacturing in the 21st century. This discussion shows that Academician Yang Shuzi realized that promoting intelligent manufacturing is the only way for my country to improve the international competitiveness of manufacturing industry as early as 30 years ago.
 
The paper specifically mentions the “sales intelligence” of developing enterprises, which reflects that Academician Yang Shuzi emphasizes that intelligent manufacturing should help enterprises solve practical problems and create benefits for enterprises.

Research directions and topics of intelligent manufacturing

The third part of the thesis systematically introduces the research directions and topics of intelligent manufacturing and systems, including the theoretical basis and design technology of intelligent manufacturing systems, manufacturing intelligence theory and processing technology, integration of intelligent manufacturing cell technology, knowledge base system and network technology, intelligent Six aspects of machine design, and the human factor in manufacturing .
 
The thesis points out that IMS emphasizes the intelligence of the system and each link facing the whole manufacturing process, and it is necessary to study the design strategy and development environment of IMS (including development language, operating system and development tools, etc.).
 
The paper especially emphasizes the integration of intelligent manufacturing cell technology, including parallel intelligent design, intelligent scheduling, planning, simulation and optimization of production process, intelligent processing system of product quality information, intelligent monitoring, diagnosis, compensation and control of manufacturing process and system, And an intelligent decision-making system for production and operation management.
 
The picture shows instructing graduate students in the laboratory in the early 1990s
 
In the design of intelligent machines, the paper especially emphasizes that intelligent robots will occupy an important position in IMS, mainly reflected in the two aspects of machine vision and robot control, and machine self-learning and self-maintenance technologies need to be studied.
 
At the end of the paper, special emphasis is placed on the in-depth study of the human factor in manufacturing . Including human -system flexible interaction technology; the design of the future manufacturing environment, the research on the status and role of people in the future manufacturing environment, and the design of the future comfortable and friendly manufacturing environment; talent training and teaching systems, research on talent training plans for IMT&IMS, Develop a teaching demonstration system.

Relive the insights of the master’s work

This important paper by Academician Yang Shuzi made an in-depth discussion on the development background and technological development direction of the field of intelligent manufacturing, as well as the strategic value of promoting intelligent manufacturing to enhance the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry, which is a milestone for the development of China’s manufacturing industry and the advancement of intelligent manufacturing. meaning .
 
In fact, from joining the WTO in 2001 to becoming the world’s largest manufacturing country in 2010, my country has become the world’s largest manufacturing country in recent years in many fields such as rail transit, new energy, new energy vehicles, home appliances, and communications. The application of intelligent manufacturing technology played a very important role. Since 2015, China has comprehensively promoted the demonstration project of intelligent manufacturing. The “14th Five-Year Plan” regards intelligent manufacturing as the main direction of the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry and the construction of a strong manufacturing and quality country, which fully reflects the foresight of Academician Yang Shuzi.
 
Intelligent manufacturing is a complex system engineering. Intelligent manufacturing is not only the intelligence of production and manufacturing, but the intelligence of the entire manufacturing value chain; not only the intelligence of a single manufacturing enterprise, but also the intelligence of collaboration between upstream and downstream enterprises in the entire supply chain. This point was clearly pointed out in the paper of Academician Yang Shuzi thirty years ago.
 
To promote intelligent manufacturing, integration is the core problem that needs to be solved. In the two decades of intelligent manufacturing service practice, manufacturing enterprises still have problems such as information silos, automation silos, faults between information systems and automation systems, and even silos between cloud islands and multidisciplinary design. This issue was clearly pointed out in the article by Academician Yang Shuzi thirty years ago, which shows the foresight of the master. It is precisely in order to solve the integration and interoperability of software related to intelligent manufacturing that the International Organization for Standardization has put forward the STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data) standard after years of continuous improvement. In addition, the OPC UA standard is also conducive to breaking through the gap between the information system and the automation system and realizing IT/OT integration.
 
Today, we continue to emphasize that manufacturing enterprises need to pay attention to the three aspects of products, namely standardization, serialization, and modularization , as well as the reuse of design results. In this regard, Academician Yang Shuzi also elaborated in the paper.
 
In the paper, Academician Yang Shuzi emphasized the need to focus on parallel intelligent design; intelligent scheduling, planning, simulation and optimization of production processes; intelligent processing systems for product quality information; intelligent monitoring, diagnosis, compensation and control of manufacturing processes and systems; Intelligent decision-making system with operational management. In fact, multidisciplinary simulation and optimization, model-based systems engineering (MBSE), optimal scheduling of manufacturing resources and application of APS systems, remote monitoring and predictive maintenance of equipment based on IoT and artificial intelligence, AI quality inspection and data-based Driven intelligent decision-making is the hotspot of current research and application in the field of intelligent manufacturing.
 
In the process of promoting intelligent manufacturing, there are still many misunderstandings, such as one-sided emphasis on full automation, the pursuit of “black light factories”, and ignoring the human element . In fact, the production mode of the vast majority of manufacturing enterprises is small batches, multi-variety, and the need to produce a variety of variant products. Therefore, the promotion of flexible automation of human-machine integration is a real feasible solution. The purpose of promoting intelligent manufacturing is to help enterprises and even the industrial chain to enhance their market competitiveness, rather than simply emphasizing the advanced nature of technology. The combination of advanced nature and practicality, focusing on the active role of people, accumulating experience and knowledge, and realizing continuous improvement are the keys to the success of intelligent manufacturing. This aspect is also elaborated in the paper of Academician Yang Shuzi.
 
For the application of intelligent robots, the prospect of Academician Yang Shuzi’s paper is very far-sighted. In recent years, my country’s intelligent robot industry has developed vigorously. Collaborative robots, parallel robots, AGVs are widely used, multi-robot collaboration, and intelligent robots integrated with machine vision have achieved remarkable results in the disorderly grasping of parts, and cutting-edge applications such as wind power blades and aircraft fuselage grinding. As a result, the rapid development of non-standard automated production line integrators based on the integrated application of intelligent robots has strongly supported the vigorous development of my country’s lithium battery, photovoltaic and other industries.
 
Academician Yang Shuzi’s paper emphasizes promoting the cultivation of talents in intelligent manufacturing . In this regard, e-works has carried out long-term practice, holding hundreds of online and offline professional trainings every year, and also released the intelligent manufacturing online college, which currently has 100 A number of professional courses have accumulated many expert video lectures from academia, industry and intelligent manufacturing industry, and a large number of intelligent manufacturing materials. More than 50 leading enterprises in the industry have used e-works online academy as their internal training for intelligent manufacturing. Online platform for professionals.
 
As Academician Yang Shuzi pointed out in the paper, the intelligent manufacturing system should consider three elements: technology, people and economy. Promoting intelligent manufacturing requires building a healthy and harmonious ecosystem. Industrial software, industrial automation, IT product suppliers and consulting service agencies should cooperate in depth to help manufacturing companies build interconnected and transparent factories, and realize efficient collaboration between humans and machines. Efficient operation, timely delivery of products with reasonable cost and qualified quality, to achieve close cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain, to better meet the diversified and personalized needs of customers, to help manufacturing enterprises build differentiated competitive advantages and achieve sustainable development.
 
In the course of my personal growth and career development, I was fortunate to have received the guidance of Academician Yang Shuzi, which has benefited me throughout my life. Academician Yang Shuzi’s advocacy of humanistic quality education for college students also deeply influenced me, and encouraged me to embark on the career development path of researching and developing industrial software, disseminating intelligent manufacturing knowledge, creating an intelligent manufacturing exchange and collaboration platform, and providing manufacturing enterprises with intelligent manufacturing professional services. .
 
I would like to express my deep memory of Academician Yang Shuzi with this article and pay tribute to the master!

In 1995, Academician Yang Shuzi came to my research group to guide the work