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At the core of enabling automation is accurate production data that can drive decision-making for humans and machines. We understand that manufacturers are at the early stages of introducing automation within their operations. One example of a company using this technique to great effect is FANUC, which utilizes a lights-out factory to produce robots and manufacturing systems without any human assistance.įanuc has successfully launched a lights out factory, allowing their robots to build robots without much human intervention. Companies that utilize this strategy do so with a tech stack that usually includes machine vision, additive manufacturing equipment (3D printing), industrial IoT, edge computing, cloud data, machine learning, and robotics. In order to achieve this, you need to be able to automate every single step of the manufacturing process. Lights out manufacturing (also known as a “dark factory”) is a production method that requires little to no human interaction-essentially running on its own, even in a dark and otherwise empty factory. Although most facilities are at the early stages of automating production activities, automation solutions are being increasingly adopted across the industry. These 24-hour production facilities sound like pure fantasy, but they are a reality today in manufacturing facilities spanning the globe. Manufacturers would encounter fewer quality issues too, because-unlike humans-the machines can replicate their behaviors exactly, day-in and day-out. This would drastically reduce workplace accidents, the cost to keep the facility well heated or cooled, and the cost of the labor itself. Just machines doing what they do best-accurate, repeated tasks at speeds far faster than their homo sapien counterparts. Simply show up to work, set the machines in motion, flip off the lights, and head out the door. It has been the dream of many manufacturers to use a set-it-and-forget-it mindset for production. This requires the support of multiple technologies such as machine learning and high-frequency data collection. Lights out manufacturing is a technique that uses fully-automated technology to run a production factory with little or no human intervention.