Deloitte and The Smart Factory@Wichita: Building the Future

We talk about this in every edition of IMD. The change is dramatic in today’s manufacturing environments – as the delivery of smaller lots and more customized products in B2B and B2C environments increases, the propagation of Industry 4.0 digital operations accelerate. So when several industry titans joined together to create a showcase where a person could walk the floor and see smart automation, digital twins, analytics, and interoperability in action, expectations could have outpaced delivery. When these industry titans joined together to create The Smart Factory@Wichita and a partner ecosystem thought, the expectations were outpaced by the delivery.

Advanced Capabilities and Partner Ecosystem

The Smart Factory@Wichita is a collaborative effort of Deloitte and a global ecosystem of technology providers that have a history of delivering smart factory capabilities. Here is a list of the Founding Sponsors for The Smart Factory@Wichita, and some of the areas where they deliver capabilities to smart factories:

• Deloitte provides experts in smart manufacturing, digital transformation, and Industry 4.0 who are working with the Smart Factory’s ecosystem of partners to help organizations explore what’s possible with smart factory applications and help them move closer to creating sustainable smart manufacturing investments. Transforming a factory requires collaboration between manufacturing, supply chain, and IT business functions. It also requires new technologies and a commitment to becoming an insight-driven organization. Deloitte has a proven approach to helping clients navigate this transition and a proprietary smart manufacturing solution that can help clients increase throughput and profitability.
• Amazon Web Services provides more than 200 fully featured advanced manufacturing services support virtually any cloud workload, including compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, ML (Machine Learning) and AI, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management supported and delivered through a global infrastructure. AWS also offers a Digital Twin building platform, TwinMaker.
• Dragos provides industrial cybersecurity solutions that can help protect smart factories from cyberattacks. The Dragos Platform utilizes deep packet inspection to give operators a holistic picture of connected OT equipment and network communications.
• Infor provides cloud analytics software that can be used to manage the operations of a smart factory. Infor provides manufacturers with end-to-end CloudSuites, featuring highly flexible architecture, advanced technologies, and AI-driven analytics for valuable data insights. Infor software connects data, people, and processes for a complete digital transformation that will help you align with customers, manage complexities, and seize growth opportunities.
• SAP provides cloud based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that can be used to manage the relationships between a smart factory and its customers. At the core of The Smart Factory@Wichita is SAP S/4HANA, the intelligent enterprise cloud solution that runs mission-critical operations with integrated supply chain solutions for manufacturing and asset management. These and other digital solutions enable the physical production line on the shop floor.
• Siemens provides automation and control systems, and a digital software suite that can be used to control the operations of a smart factory. Siemens Digital Industries Software is driving transformation to enable a digital enterprise where today’s engineering, manufacturing, and electronics design meets tomorrow. The Xcelerator portfolio helps companies of all sizes create and leverage digital twins, providing new insights, opportunities, and levels of automation to drive innovation.
• Wichita State University provides academic research and support to the Smart Factory@Wichita.

These providers offer a wide range of solutions and services that can help organizations accelerate innovation and make Industry 4.0 a reality. Some of the specific technologies that are featured in the Smart Factory include:

• The Internet of Things (IoT)
• Cloud computing
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Computer vision
• Robotics

These technologies can be used to improve efficiency, productivity, and sustainability across the greater enterprise. The Smart Factory@Wichita provides a hands-on environment where organizations can explore the possibilities of smart factory applications and learn how to make them work for their business. And as an added bonus, The Smart Factory@Wichita operates sustainably at net-zero energy consumption and is outfitted with wind trees, solar assets, and smart lighting.

Simulation and Digital Twin

One name that is seen fairly often in this magazine, because of the breadth of offerings in the manufacturing space, is founding member of The Smart Factory@Wichita along with Deloitte and other ecosystem members, Siemens. Siemens developed the eXplore Live space at The Smart Factory as a 3,000 square-foot area dedicated to hands-on learning opportunities for companies looking to modernize, reshore, localize, or regionalize their operations in North America. The eXplore Live space will enable Siemens to expand customer engagements at The Smart Factory@Wichita with a showcase focused on design and optimization using a closed loop digital twin. It will also enable exploration of industry digital threads and provide space for innovation workshops, co-creation, and help empower the next generation of engineers. The Smart Factory@Wichita’s Siemens eXplore Live space joins Siemens’ global eXplore Center network, best-in-class customer experience centers that, combined with a proven innovation methodology, help companies discover what’s possible for a digital tomorrow, help define a vision for their organization and design a roadmap for making it real.

“Our alliance with Deloitte has been bringing together mutual customers to explore the future of manufacturing and industry 4.0 for over a decade,” said Bob Jones, EVP, Global Sales; Customer Success, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “The opening of Siemens eXplore Live space at The Smart Factory@Wichita is the next progression of this relationship; bringing to life the concepts, ideas and practicalities of The Smart Factory, and enabling customers in multiple industries to accelerate digital transformation and solve complex manufacturing challenges.”

“As an industry leader in digitalization and advanced simulation, Siemens is helping manufacturers quickly adopt state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 technologies through its end-to-end suite of solutions,” said Stephen Laaper, principal and Smart Manufacturing leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “At the new Siemens eXplore Live space at The Smart Factory@Wichita, visitors can easily experience the power of Deloitte’s and Siemens’ combined industry and digital transformation expertise to help accelerate the implementation of smart manufacturing solutions, solve complex challenges and engineer advantage.”

The Student Experience

What does all of this mean to students and to further workforce development in advanced manufacturing? Leaders with impressive digital experience are coming forward and putting real hard dollar investments behind their comments. The beneficiaries are the current students in engineering or those considering engineering or manufacturing technology learning. The Smart Factory@Wichita is a world-class facility that provides students with hands-on experience in advanced manufacturing technologies. The facility is home to a variety of equipment, including robots, 3D printers, and CNC machines. Students can use these tools to design and build products, or to learn how to operate and maintain them.

The Smart Factory also offers a variety of educational programs, including workshops, lectures, and internships. These programs allow students to learn about the latest trends in manufacturing and to gain the skills they need to succeed in the workforce. The Smart Factory@Wichita is a valuable resource for students who are interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing. The facility provides students with the opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and to gain the skills they need to succeed in the workforce.

For example, an engineering student could be given the opportunity to work at the Smart Factory@Wichita. In this opportunity he would be tasked with designing and building a 3D printed model of a new product. He would work with a team of other students and mentors to complete a project. Upon completion of a successful project, he would gain practical insight into 3D printing techniques and product design. This scenario is unfolding every day at The Smart Factory – and students claim that experience as being invaluable to their learning process.

• Students will develop the skills they need to be successful in the manufacturing industry.
• Students will learn about the latest technologies in manufacturing.
• Students will have the opportunity to network with industry professionals.
• Students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the world of smart manufacturing.

A news release from SAP’s website regarding The Smart Factory@Wichita impact on Wichita State University students says, “The Smart Factory@Wichita also serves Wichita State University students as an applied learning environment for smart manufacturing and its impact on sustainability outcomes. The need is critical, according to a report from Deloitte: “The manufacturing industry is facing a skills and talent gap that will leave 2 million of nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs unfilled.”

“We’re building traction as an emerging leader in the field of digital transformation; and trailblazers — like Deloitte — are taking notice that Wichita State’s research and expertise give them a competitive edge,” said Dr. Rick Muma, president of Wichita State University. “And our students benefit from the applied learning opportunities that they’ll gain at The Smart Factory@Wichita. As Deloitte professionals educate the workforce of tomorrow, Shocker students train side-by-side with experts in the fields of smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and robotics.”

However it isn’t just college students that are getting the benefits from The Smart Factory@Wichita. The factory itself produces a STEM kit that it sends to middle school students around the United States. In a partnership with Elenco Electronics, the factory cranks out Smart Rover Kits which are made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) taken from the local recycling stream. The kits are intended to inspire STEM learning for students, and there is a goal to reach 800,000 students over a four year period. During the factory startup period, initial donations enabled reaching middle school students in Philadelphia, Metro Detroit, and Wichita.