Smart factories have a history dating back years, but their accessibility was limited to larger companies with substantial investment capabilities. However, significant changes have occurred over the past decade, rendering smart factory capabilities available to a broader range of manufacturers. This shift in the marketplace has been substantial over the past decade and continues to gain momentum.

At the forefront of this transformative shift is Ujigami, developed by Tutelar Technologies. Ujigami offers a comprehensive solution, covering a broad spectrum of manufacturing needs, from product-directed manufacturing and advanced mistake-proofing to dock-to-dock management and control. One of its notable features is AI empowered IIoT, which actively controls the quality of each serialized unit throughout the complete production process, ensuring that products are defect-free before shipping.

Ujigami is designed with flexibility, scalability, and user-friendliness in mind, allowing its core module to be easily customized to meet clients’ requirements. It can also integrate additional functionalities, like scheduling, customer-order interfaces, warehouse management, performance metrics, advanced management reporting, and supplier-advanced shipping notifications. It seamlessly integrates with existing manufacturing software systems, serving as the central hub for coordination and reporting while streamlining operations.

“The advantages of Ujigami software extend beyond the factory floor. Clients can optimize their operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and deliver products with precision and speed by harnessing its smart manufacturing capabilities,” says Edward Dickson, president and CEO at Ujigami.

Thanks to technological advancements like AI vision, Ujigami can implement intelligent manufacturing systems that significantly reduce or completely eradicate the reliance on human labor.

This includes a shift from supervisory roles overseeing various work cells to deploying robotics and automation. Notably, plant floor manufacturing systems like Ujigami are instrumental in removing human operators from the manufacturing process.

Ujigami’s expertise is exemplified by a recent success story involving a client operating 20 injection molding machines with capacities ranging from 1000 to 2000 tons. During the COVID-19 pandemic, finding low-skilled machine operators became increasingly challenging. They turned to Tutelar for assistance in developing operator-free injection molding machine work cells.

Ujigami plays a pivotal role within these cells by directly interfacing with the material delivery system to ensure that the correct resins and colorants reach the injection molding machines. It also oversees an automated guided vehicle (AGV) system responsible for delivering the appropriate containers to the injection molding workstations and removing full containers. Automation, predominantly through robots, handles tasks like part extraction from the molding machines, gate removal, and packing into containers as they emerge from the machine.

The advantages of Ujigami extend beyond the factory floor. Clients can optimize their operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and deliver products with precision and speed by harnessing its smart manufacturing capabilities

Ujigami is the brain and central nervous system of the entire system, supervising and controlling the robots, molding machines, and containerization, ensuring that the produced parts meet stringent specifications. It guides the robot on where to place each part depending on the type of container delivered. The system operates seamlessly without human operators, effectively eliminating a previously crucial role in the injection molding work cell.

This transformation has enabled the work cell to operate continuously, 24/7, with minimal interruptions, except for essential tool changeovers. In the past, the reliance on human operators led to breaks and disruptions due to natural needs like bathroom and lunch breaks. Ujigami is leading the charge in reducing reliance on human labor and ensuring uninterrupted production through innovations like AI vision and intelligent automation. As we look to the future, it’s clear that smart factories are no longer a privilege of the few but a vital tool for a more efficient, precise, and responsive manufacturing world.