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This article comes from the official account of Wechat: knowledge Automation (ID:zhishipai), with the original title: "Lin Xueping | being strong: mecha Warriors of Digital Factory". Author: Lin Xueping.

Introduction: there is no wild mecha warrior is a wild dream that will be wrapped in everyone's heart. In a safe cockpit, no matter how weak the body is, you can manipulate the huge steel arms and wave an iron fist that is hundreds of times stronger than your own arms. Who can refuse to punch out? To beat the big with the small, to be strong with the weak, to challenge the abominable uncle next door and to overthrow the senior boy is the most simple desire that often breaks out in the heart of every child. With the growth of the years, the impulse of Mecha arming itself has been gradually taken away. The sudden acceleration of driving a 2-ton car is one of the few moments that connect memories of the past. Most people no longer arm themselves with dreams, and beyond one arm, beyond my reach, they return to their 1:1 state of mental will and physical strength.

With the development of intelligent manufacturing in recent years, a lot of digital technologies have emerged. But the role of people in it seems to be like an on-and-off circuit that rarely goes through to the end. In fact, new types of machine armor brought about by the digital transformation are coming one after another. Human energy is being magnified step by step.

Strong man, starting from the skeleton, many companies are keen on unmanned factories, or black light factories: no one, the workshop does not need lighting, do the same at night. Unfortunately, such a dream country of continuous rotation of robots is basically a demonstration project at present, and it is generally not practical. In unattended power plants, the task of mechanical operation will have some value. But in a diversified order-oriented manufacturing scene, black light factories are often fancy. An unmanned factory is like a customized play: for a specific group of people at a specific time.

As long as there is a slight change in the order, such a factory will immediately fall into a panic. Someone has to show up immediately and debug the machine so that the stopped machine can continue to run. It's like switching between repertoire, someone has to come out and switch props. It's like a crisp music box, it looks like a solo dance of music, but every once in a while, someone needs to operate it. To really realize the unmanned factory, there is still a long time to go.

In fact, the focus of the factory is not to be unmanned, but to serve people, and the trend of social aging is decisive. The retirement of the old years of service in the factory and the reluctance of young people to take up the post are unstoppable. How to make the best use of the existing manpower will be the most important challenge for every workshop.

There is only one way, and that is to be strong. A system that multiplies a person's ability in an instant. The scope is the best symbol of the "strongman" of the sniper. The image of the mecha warrior began to wave to people again from the ceiling above the workshop. Between man-made and unmanned chemical plants, strengthening people is the best transition.

At the BMW plant in Shenyang, many workers have auxiliary equipment for external skeletons. It is like an invisible chair on the thigh, which can be stretched out at any time to allow workers to finish their work in various positions. This is the continuation of the human factor project that avoids excessive fatigue.

The mecha soldiers of the Ford Motor Factory have also been on duty for a long time. A few years ago, Ford partnered with Ekso Bionics, a rehabilitation robot company, to develop an EksoVest-assisted exoskeleton that increases the strength of workers' arms. After taking up the post with this wearable robotic arm, the arm strength can be easily increased by six kilograms. The latest EksoVes, on the other hand, can be worn on the top of the body, allowing the wearer to support the arm during repetitive high-altitude missions. These manipulators do not use any electrical equipment, but use air springs. These wearable clothes are designed to "eliminate work-related neck, shoulder and back injuries" and are flexible and breathable.

In the factories of the future, there will be not only robots, but also "mecha people". Hit it hard, the workshop is really lively.

Also arm the mind if the ability of the limbs can be strengthened, can people's skills be strengthened as well? Industrial augmented reality AR is slowly coming up with an answer to this question. After several years of unpopular development, industrial AR has also found its place in the factory.

Aywa, a Beijing-based software company that specializes in industrial AR, is trying to match Wall Street's favorite industrial software star, PTC, of the United States. PTC, an industrial software company with high-end CAD and leading the development of the Internet of things, bought the famous AR game engine Vuforia software a few years ago. This game engine, which has been deeply industrialized, has developed a physical model recognition technology, which is unique.

Aywa has also broken through this technology and can complete the fine reduction of various angles of the engine or injection molding machine. Look at an engine from different angles. If you turn different angles, it will show different sides and superimpose different characteristics. Even if it is only for one degree, the picture will be exquisitely presented. This will suddenly become easier for assembly workers. This method can be seen as a "eyeball follow" technology, like the fighter pilot's head-up display HUD helmet, this airborne optical display system can take into account both instrument parameters and external visual reference in the same field of vision. Behind this technology, it is the ability of model recognition and algorithm. It forms thousands of different angle models of objects from the three-dimensional dimensions designed by CAD, forms the corpus in AR, and carries on the training of neural network algorithm.

The knowledge of re-coding the experience in advance will greatly improve the operational ability of the on-site workers.

Technological breakthrough is one thing, commercial application is another challenge. At present, there are still three major restrictions that still restrict the development of industrial AR. One is the user's perception. Many people think that industrial AR is visualization. The reputation of "visualization" is getting worse and worse in industry. People who visit the factory are becoming more and more distrustful of the images and data displayed on the big screen. Just like health products, these three words have completely tarnished their reputation in China, and few people believe in the efficacy of health products. Similarly, if you only emphasize "visualization", it will also destroy the application of AR in the industrial field.

Second, the hardware computing power still failed to keep up. The computing power of a Microsoft Hollens lens, compared with a mobile phone, is like a primary school student meeting a college student high achiever. At present, many industrial software for design and simulation have solved the problem of hardware computing power matching very well. After years of old husband and wife, they have become familiar with the road. On the other hand, the relationship between industrial AR software and hardware is still stumbling, and they need to promote each other. Just like sweaters, warp and weft, interspersed with each other, can make better progress. Unilateral impatience is of no use. Third, the appropriate interface is still not found. The screen is too small to see on a mobile phone, but it takes an extra extra thing to see it on a tablet. You still have to wait for the lightest AR glasses to turn things around.

As the virtual reality VR has shipped more than 10 million units in 2021, enhanced AR will soon have its own spring. In the factory, these industrial AR, which can transfer knowledge to the on-site workers at any time, will also usher in its own spring. The real role of industrial AR in the industrial field is to equip the employees on the spot with knowledge. Like a knowledge container, give skills to employees in the field. It is believed that this power will erupt in the next 3-5 years.

Hebei Shijiazhuang Tianyuan Company, which has been ploughing construction machinery services, is trying its best to promote the software and hardware integration scheme of "knowledge-embedded" industrial AR. It skillfully takes advantage of the fact that helmets are necessary for on-site operation, and skillfully combines existing helmets with glasses. The combination with the cloud solves the problem of basic computing power. But the real challenge is still the coding of knowledge.

Tianyuan has been practicing for many years for the digital service of construction machinery. The first to do machine positioning, a good solution to the loss of excavators or private work. It uses satellite positioning system for a long time in China, and provides construction machinery services through mobile phone text messages. Now, in machine maintenance, it has also found a new digital means.

It is a regular job for machines to beat butter. I used to play butter. The operator needs to find the oil nozzle with the butter gun, aim it and start filling it with butter. A machine may have 10 grease nozzles, each of which needs to be aligned. The operators at the scene are physically exhausting, and their eyes are easy to see. And the effect of oil injection is often difficult to measure. Many oil cylinders are not full, resulting in construction machinery not being well lubricated, thus damaging joints, wearing the body, and causing loud noise. However, if we want to rely on the automatic lubrication of construction machinery, it is often not stable enough, and finally it needs to be operated by personnel.

From a management point of view, what is immeasurable is unmanageable. One of the major problems in the industry is that it is difficult to measure on-site work. When those personnel are working alone, being unable to measure will lead to management out of control. If only the way of remote monitoring, through background supervision, the cost of personnel will be too high. This way of adding people and monitoring people is a kind of foreman's thinking of traditional industry. Backstage supervision must not be real people, but need to be judged by robots. So the helmet glasses designed by Tianyuan came in handy. It can automatically identify, convert the image into digital, and be restored by the computer to a mathematical model for automatic recognition, which can judge whether the operator's operation is accurate and whether the butter is full. With auxiliary judgment, the efficiency of employees in beating butter has also been improved. The strong humanization of the auxiliary machine operation and maintenance realizes the operation of semi-manual and semi-machine decision-making, laying the groundwork for the complete replacement of robots in the future.

It also brings new thinking of digital assessment for managers. Fairness and maintaining the difference of evaluation are important criteria to motivate workers on the spot. Through the helmet, the backstage robot can manage and assess the foreground and quickly determine the salary under the quality criteria. Employees only need to wear helmets to work, and the backstage automatically completes the counting. It turns out that companies and workers need daily settlement and monthly settlement: record their work every day and settle their wages every month. Dozens of assessment indicators are written down, the amount of salary data is very large, and financial settlement is very difficult. And employees will be very concerned about various indicators. Checking these indicators has also become a hurtful job. Now, the industrial AR helmet can not only guide the site, but also record the data directly, directly assess and pay wages directly, so as to achieve the end of the day. This is the original form, mobile phone photos and other assessment system, completely incompetent.

Not satisfied with the end of the day, Tianyuan plans to go further, that is, the "single list knot".

With the help of industrial AR helmets, many machine maintenance tasks become easier. So can these simplified jobs be realized by strengthened external employees?

If you can use couriers to deliver parts, why not let them complete the maintenance, so as to save the strength of the company's internal staff. Tianyuan has begun to have couriers equipped with industrial AR helmets while delivering parts. These helmets can guide couriers to carry out machine maintenance: of course, you can't do too complicated operations yet, but you can still do it by changing the filter core and the oil lamp. The operation procedure will be displayed on the helmet glasses, and if the operation procedure is wrong, it will be told to re-operate immediately. This method, compared with the maintenance workers sent by the company itself, costs less than the original 1max 5. The use of industrial AR helmets is expected to reduce the number of operation and maintenance teams by nearly 20%.

It seems that the organization of an enterprise is also changing. Platform employment is on the rise. An enterprise needs to mix labor and make more use of the power of outsourced employees. There is not only an instantaneous multiplication of skills, there can be no lack of quality control, but also the rapid settlement of labor costs: there will be a big difference in the way outsourced employees and internal employees settle their salaries. It is very important to have a single knot like Didi. The traditional way of salary management is difficult to cope with this situation. Platforms and systems become critical, and the industrial AR that identifies the scene will also make the financial department of the enterprise stronger. From focusing on the phased monthly salary and annual salary, to the billing method at the node.

Solving the technical empowerment and wage settlement of the last meter is also an important issue for the mixed labor force in the future.

The special management informatization has been carried out around the computer side for so many years, which only facilitates the decision-makers in the office and the mental workers on the spot. It opens the flow of information, but the means of operation of workers, the informatization of the past did not give enough attention, did not provide too many tools. Production line operators, over the years, the mode of operation has not changed much. The IT system is not designed for field employees. And a factory, the proportion of on-site personnel is often 80%, but does not provide too many means.

Lenovo's production base in Shenzhen is a versatile factory that can produce personal computers, servers, tablets, monitors, AR and other products (except mobile phones), with a high degree of automation, production line flexibility and digitization. But the focus of the global head of manufacturing engineering here has always been for on-site employees. The troubles of the "workshop supervisor", a special middle management, are magnified here like a magnifying glass.

The workshop supervisor is a very special kind of manager. Compared with the engineers in the office, they are not highly educated. The workshop is the stage for growth every day and every year. However, for production line operators, they need to play the role of managers.

In fact, the workshop supervisor is the most worried about the aunt. All things related to machines and materials need to be kept in mind and picked up at any time. Although there have been some simple tablets or screens to help in recent years, most of them rely on memory, Excel tables, and hand painting.

The biggest challenge for computer factories is the diversity of orders. Even more extreme is Hefei Lianbao, Lenovo's flagship factory. Of the 5000 orders received every day, 85 per cent are made of less than five pieces. Different products and different models often mean frequent switching of production lines.

In the past two years, similar advanced scheduling software has begun to be able to deal with this. Through the use of one-click scheduling technology, although the possibility of arrangement and combination is very great, machines and materials can be arranged accurately automatically. However, these exquisite systems are all physical space-oriented combinations. In reality, the workshop supervisor has to consider the problem, but also add a consideration to the people.

A production line has to deal with 10 types of products with five orders in one shift, but not all workers have the same skills to cope with such a variety of models. In the key process, there must be people who are familiar with these types of handle, the quality can be guaranteed. So, who wants to stay in these critical processes? And people are alive, there are always people who are absent from work. Who should replace these vacancies?

In the head of the supervisor, there is always a rapid calculation, it is necessary to quickly line up his employees, so as to deploy troops and arrange them in place.

All right, that's when we're ready. Get ready for the shift.

I haven't had time to catch my breath. What, the bachelor is in a bad mood today and asks for a temporary leave of absence.

Wait a minute, take out your pen again, cross out a person, and replace it with someone with similar skills. And the chain changes brought about by this also need to be rearranged. This is the busy scene of the workshop supervisor.

It has to be said that the integration of factory informatization and industry in China has been promoted for more than a decade, and has played a good role in promoting the information management at the middle and high levels. Corporate office executives increasingly rely on the visualization of information technology, but the workshop where those workshop supervisors are located is still a permafrost without spring breeze. The management has missiles with advanced guidance, while the workshop manager still runs through the machine pile with millet plus rifles.

The current digital transformation is changing the regret of the information age. The manufacturing engineering department of Lenovo's Shenzhen factory decided to provide a set of rocket army equipment to the workshop supervisor, which is called the "exquisite tower" supervisor management system to realize the strong personalization of grass-roots cadres.

The "Linglong Tower" is a direct labor system (corresponding to indirect labor systems such as offices). It will carry out a software system of "digital skill portrait" for every employee who operates on the spot. It describes the skill curve of the whole on-the-job cycle, such as the change of skills development of new employees, the type of training they have received, and the defect-free time of on-the-job quality.

With this system, workshop supervisors no longer have to rely on tenacious memories to search for suitable employees to take up jobs. The front-end information scheduling software can arrange production with one button, while the supervisor can arrange people with one button. When the tough order task is issued, those employees who are proficient in assembly, testing, and packaging can be selected immediately. They are called "Old A Legion" by Lenovo. With some newly recruited new employees, an iron army can be set up immediately to fight an uphill battle on the brand-new production line.

This makes the supervisor's management skills in the field instantly multiply, which is the best opportunity to show his talents.

Virtual employee Assistant VEA (Virtual Employee Assistan) is a new track that has sprung up in the past two years. VEA unicorns like Moveworks in the United States were valued at $2 billion in the previous two years. It is used to address "employee support", such as policy solutions, human resources calls for help, etc. Traditional methods often rely on the repeated switching of different information systems, coupled with the intermittent communication between personnel, can not form a unified workflow, and the work will be interrupted frequently. Virtual employee assistant is a new type of machine armor shell, which hopes to realize the end-to-end automation of the whole process of transactional problems with the help of the combination of natural language understanding NLU, conversational AI and semantic search. Employees only need to describe to Moveworks what they need on existing communication tools (such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, or WeCom) to get help in a matter of seconds.

Sure enough, the domestic Zhihui Company has tried to strengthen the knowledge service-oriented departments such as IT and HR of the Ministry of Human Resources. Employees can "wake up" each system through voice interaction and automatically associate the output information of these systems. This is an automatic answering platform that is readily available to employees and integrates multi-department systems.

In the last two years, robot process automation RPA has also begun to become popular. This kind of robot software simulates the operation of a human on a computer and automatically performs process tasks according to the rules. In the process of production management, a lot of repetitive work will be reduced. Just as people who are determined to lose weight have their eyes on their own fat, layers of repetitive processes will be replaced. For example, piecemeal work, such as copying from this system and then pasting to another system, will be automatically "stitched" together.

Unlike RPA, which focuses on process automation, VEA focuses more on human interaction. In particular, the voice interaction function is releasing the hands of employees, no longer need to shuttle between different information systems. Sure enough, Beijing Zhihui and Laiyi companies seem to be combining the two to form an employee intelligent service system. This kind of system, which aims to strengthen the information connection ability of employees, is like Sun WuKong, who changes into an eagle, a crow, and an old temple, interfacing with the existing system in various shapes. It is a cross-system "ferry car" that carries information back and forth and strengthens employees' ability to control the system in the most convenient way of voice interaction.

The new type of knowledge management seems to be making a comeback. More than a decade ago, it was all the rage to manage empirical knowledge engineering and knowledge management within enterprises, but through the solidification of the IT system, it seems to be a dead end. Even the US Army, which has done the best employee experience management in the United States, finally abandoned this route. The biggest problem with knowledge management is trying to get people to contribute their knowledge and code it. But the contributor has nothing in return, and it is difficult for the user to use it. The use frequency is too low, which is a fatal problem. Unused, knowledge management software, all starved to death in the end. On the other hand, the new generation of knowledge management no longer emphasizes human knowledge, but focuses on strengthening individual's ability to manage information and data. As a high-frequency knowledge robot, it should usher in a new spring.

Laiye company has provided the application of robot process automation for big data center of many enterprises, such as form splitting, video push and so on. But at the same time, tools can be provided to replicate your skills. Front-line business personnel can develop their own business robots and share them on the robot sharing platform for others to use. With the indoctrination of dimensionality reduction knowledge, grass-roots employees can also realize the work that needs to be done by employees with higher positions. It seems that people with a monthly salary of 8000 yuan can do a job with a monthly salary of 12000 yuan. But if it goes on like this, I don't know whether the former should show off or the latter should tremble. As a result of being strong, the traditional organizational form is producing cracks. Fresh air poured in and oxidized the fracture surface: new tissue texture began to emerge.

Notes: in the spring of future employment and digital labor force, no matter how surging various technologies such as automation, digitalization, intelligence and so on, the manufacturing scene has always been a stage with human nature as the protagonist. There are gods at the scene, individuals are gods. Paying attention to people, not machines, is always the best mindfulness. A revolution in field skills is just around the corner. Strong man, ushered in the new Superman of the digital labor force. The dream of mecha warriors made a comeback.

A brief introduction to Lin Xueping: general Manager of Beijing Lianxun Power Consulting Co., Ltd., visiting researcher of China quality Research Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University

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