The future of manufacturing through smart factories

METALEX Vietnam 2019 takes place this October in Ho Chi Minh City

Themed “Rising with Innovations”, METALEX Vietnam 2019 will take place on October 10-12 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City. The expo will showcase innovative machine tools, precision engineering, and metalworking technologies with an emphasis on the smart factory concept.

According to the latest report from Global Market Insights, Inc., the smart factory market is anticipated to rise from $75 billion in 2018 to over $155 billion by 2025. The concept plays a vital role in the future of manufacturing and metalworking owing to the growing demand for industrial solutions which optimise output and save on both labour and operational costs.

Vu Trong Tai, general manager of Reed Tradex Vietnam said, “Those factories that are digitally advanced and have connected facilities will sharpen the manufacturing performance in a host of operations. Several technologies, namely the Internet of Things, AI, Big Data, and analytics in the smart factory market, can operate autonomously and correct by itself.”

Various planning and management software can detect probable errors and alert managers to eliminate losses, and there is a high demand for these solutions, said Tai.

“In addition, government initiatives and policies in the European and Asian countries to promote the utilisation of intelligent factory techniques are also major factors attributing to smart factory expansion. Due to the popularity of cost-efficient and automated benefits, the industry is witnessing a high demand from areas like manufacturing, metalworking, automotives, and processing,” Tai added.

Commenting on the smart factory trend in Vietnam, Huynh Phong Phu, local business manager of Robotics and Discrete Automation at ABB Vietnam, said that large-scale global manufacturers have flocked to Vietnam, such as Samsung, LG, Toyota, Honda, Canon, and Brother, with some of these production facilities in the heart of the worldwide supply chain.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese manufacturers and assemblers have also developed to a large scale and complied with global production regulations and standards. These conditions have promoted the development of ­auxiliary manufacturing enterprises, thereby raising product requirements and productivity.

According to Phu, ABB has recently installed and commissioned over a thousand robots in sectors like automotives, electronics, animal feed, food and beverages, chemicals, metal, and brick fabrication in order to drive efficiency and quality.

ABB will be opening their second robotics centre later this year in Ho Chi Minh City to enable faster nationwide responses, support its customers, and to meet the manufacturing goals of today and tomorrow.

At METALEX Vietnam this year, ABB will show a fully automated production demo, in which the robots are synchronously controlled by ABB’s Ability Connected Services, a sophisticated suite of digital services.

Being delivered via ABB’s ­MyRobot, a single, intuitive interface, ABB Ability Connected Services make actionable data available anywhere and at any time to enhance robots’ uptime and optimise the performance of their systems.

Customers will also experience the concept of future smart manufacturing, which ensures quality, productivity, price, stability, and safety. In addition, ABB will also simulate a metal process from workpieces, welding, product bearing, and finishing.

This year, over 500 brands from 25 countries will gather at METALEX Vietnam. WELDING Vietnam 2019, the only international exhibition specialising in welding and cutting materials, equipment, and technologies in Vietnam, will also be co-located with the METALEX event. This show promises to be an all-in-one platform for both Vietnamese and overseas ­industrialists to discover the most up-to-date technologies and solutions within the welding industry.