CPS, connected to the digital model of the cyber world
Computer-based components and systems
CPS utilization depends on step-by-step technology development strategy


Smart Manufacturing is a manufacturing method that utilizes ICT (Information & Communication Technology) and aims to implement personalized manufacturing in response to the diversification and sophistication of market demand. It is a unique production method of the 4th Industrial Revolution era that applies digital manufacturing methods that learn on their own while collaborating with humans.

The production system that implements such smart manufacturing is the Smart Factory. The Smart Factory combines various ICTs in the production site. This makes the facilities and processes of each factory intelligent and connects them to a network. The connected factories share all production information in real time and use it to operate efficiently and autonomously.

The main purpose of smart factories is efficient and flexible autonomous intelligent design and operation. The main concept applied for this is the 'Cyber Physical System (CPS)' that actively and autonomously performs cognition (Sensor), judgment (Decision & Control), and action (Actuation).
Professor Noh Sang-do of the Department of Systems Management Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University explained in March 2018 at the Technology and Innovation Center that CPS is necessary to realize a smart factory in which products, processes, facilities, and factories are integrated and interconnected, and flexible and efficient autonomous operations are achieved throughout all stages of manufacturing.

In general, CPS is based on open services that access, process, and manage work, processes, and information data that are carried out in the real world through networks such as IoT. In other words, CPS is a computer-based component and system that connects to and utilizes the digital model of the cyber world.

Applying CPS to manufacturing systems can overcome the limitations of existing production information systems, such as vertical networks and limited information exchange. In addition, it is possible to flexibly set various production information such as 4M (Man, Material, Method, Machine), and efficiently manage and operate based on this.


Product CPS and Production CPS
CPS technology in smart factories can be divided into ‘Product CPS’ and ‘Production CPS’ depending on the application target.

Product CPS is a product in which cognitive, judgment, and behavioral functions are miniaturized and modularized and installed in the product. They exchange information with each other through a network to create new product services. To this end, the convergence of sensors, actuators, control technology, computing technology that supports them, and communication technology that connects them is essential.

Production CPS is an integrated system of the cyber world and the real world based on digital models of products, production facilities, and factories. In other words, it builds a digital model of the cyber world through virtualization of real-world products, processes, facilities, and factories, and then performs optimal production planning and process design through preliminary simulation. This is applied to actual production, and changes in the actual field, such as equipment failures, are recognized through various sensors and synchronized in real time with the cyber world.

It also autonomously analyzes and makes decisions on information collected through communication with sensors connected to the external environment, factory equipment, and operating systems to find the optimal solution, thereby integrating and supporting optimized decision-making related to design and operation through ‘intelligent situational awareness’, ‘analysis, judgment, and decision-making’, and ‘pre-verified performance’.

In particular, a digital model of the cyber world, called a 'digital twin (DT),' is built and utilized based on data and adjusted and synchronized to the actual manufacturing site.


To configure and operate CPS
In a smart factory, products, processes, various facilities, and various management and operation systems such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) are interconnected. In addition, cloud-based manufacturing big data management and analysis are performed, and cyber models or DTs synchronized with the field are configured and utilized for operation and visualization, and knowledge management and optimization are achieved based on this.

These capabilities are integrated and interconnected through open networks and interoperable platforms based on IIoT and Industrial Internet of Services (IIoS), based on service-oriented & open networks and standard platforms, and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems that support engineering.

For the smart factory cyber model, or DT virtualization, the P3R (Product, Process, Resource & Plant) engineering information and digital model for products, processes, manufacturing resources, and factories managed by PLM are the basis. Real-time virtualization of products, processes, facilities, and factories based on the 4M of the manufacturing system, engineering information, is possible through the connection of engineering software and services. That is, autonomous operation and optimization are performed through systematic and continuous configuration and application of CPS at all stages of product development and production by utilizing PLM-based engineering information and IIoT-based manufacturing big data.

In order to configure and operate these CPSs, various technologies must be integrated by layer, and the main core element technologies are ▲cloud-based interoperability platform ▲data collection and processing through sensor networks ▲purification and interpretation of collected data through industrial data analysis ▲automatic construction of cyber models or DT through real-time virtualization ▲decision optimization based on various AI techniques such as machine learning.

In particular, for the development and application of CPS technology, in addition to research and development of the technology itself, integrated technology and support systems that can interact and operate flexibly with other technologies are essential, and step-by-step technology development and application strategies are required according to the purpose, level, and stage of application.


Intelligent shipbuilding industry
On the 2nd, the Korea Smart Manufacturing Industry Association (KOSMIA) held the 'AI Factory Conference 2019' at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, with the theme of AI-based industrial intelligence.

In his opening remarks, Kim Tae-hwan, Chairman of KOSMIA and Executive Director of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said that in order to fully implement a smart factory, it is necessary to collect the necessary data at the necessary time and apply the acquired data to work to create value. He said that it should be. And in the following session, Executive Director Kim Tae-hwan presented on the ‘Hyundai Heavy Industries Manufacturing Intelligence Case.’ Hyundai Heavy Industries has been undergoing digital transformation since 2017.

A ship is shipped only after it has gone through sales and order reception, ship design, steel cutting, welding assembly, outfitting, painting, loading, quay work, and then sea trials.

Hyundai Heavy Industries has applied a cutting equipment monitoring system for steel cutting, a welding monitoring system and a BLT line smart factory system for welding assembly, and a next-generation manufacturing system for large-scale assembly. It also operates a smart self-restraint logistics system for the rigging, a painting monitoring system for painting, and a Goliath crane predictive maintenance system for loading. In addition, it is utilizing a dock distribution panel power monitoring system throughout the actual construction part.

The ultimate goal is to integrate these systems with IoT to visualize the status of the shipyard, explained Executive Director Kim Tae-hwan. The shipyard is so large that it moves frequently due to the nature of the work. It is not easy to grasp the status of the ship’s construction at a glance.

Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to utilize 5G to connect IoT endpoint devices and collect information from each system into an integrated platform to build a digital model of the cyber world, DT, synchronized with the physical world.


CPS, a key technology for implementing smart factories
As mentioned earlier, smart factories are a strategy to combine and apply ICT to traditional manufacturing to achieve autonomous optimization in all production processes. Through this, efficient manufacturing optimization can be achieved without waste or trial and error even in various changing situations.

CPS applies IIoT technology to connect and monitor all entities, including products, processes, facilities, and factories, throughout the entire production process, and manages, refines, and analyzes the collected manufacturing big data. And it establishes and intelligently utilizes a cyber model that matches the on-site situation through real-time synchronization. This can be said to be the core technology of a smart factory that aims to achieve autonomous and active design and operation optimization.