Fujitsu Signs MoU with ARTC to Jointly Develop Smart Manufacturing Solutions for Future Factories

ARTC is a public-private collaboration between A*STAR, NTU and over 50 industry partners working together to bridge technological gaps in the adoption of advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing capabilities.The three-year partnership will leverage the expertise of Fujitsu, and ARTC’s research and development expertise and state-of-the-art facilities to develop strategic capabilities that address key challenges faced by the manufacturing sector, and prepare for a future ecosystem of intelligent manufacturing. Through the partnership, Fujitsu and ARTC will jointly identify and develop solutions to comprehensively realize the digital transformation of a wide range of enterprises involved in the manufacturing supply chain, including small and medium companies (SMEs), offering potential productivity and efficiency gains, minimize security risks and enhance workplace safety.

Fujitsu and ARTC will collaborate to apply technologies in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, Head Mounted Display and Industrial Augmented Reality, Cybersecurity, Wearable technology, Human and Robotics Harmonization to the manufacturing industry. In light of Fujitsu’s initial experience in Japan, the partnership will see the roll-out of Fujitsu’s integrated design environment for product development to businesses to better integrate processes such as design development within the manufacturing environment.

Key Areas of Collaboration

Industrial IoT

To help the manufacturing sector achieve productivity and efficiency gains, Fujitsu and ARTC will work together to overcome a key challenge of Industrial IoT (IIoT) – open interoperability and development of common architecture.They will look into the design of standard reference architecture, where the design of all elements – sensors, network, data systems, security and applications, are well-integrated.

Fujitsu integrated design environment for product development

Fujitsu and ARTC seek to help the manufacturing sector, including multinational corporations (MNCs) and SMEs, digitally transform their operations through Fujitsu’s integrated design environment for product development. Fujitsu will work with experts in ARTC and partners to explore how it can achieve closer integration of value chains in the product development stage.

With six years of experience in implementing its integrated design environment for product development in Japan, Fujitsu developed this platform to support a seamless and agile end-to-end process for product design and manufacturing. More details on the concept are available in Annex 1.

Wearables for Manufacturing

Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of wearable technology to track workers’ vital signs, activities, and location to enhance safety at the workplace.

Cybersecurity in Smart Factories

Under this collaboration, Fujitsu and ARTC will address cybersecurity requirements of Smart Factories, to identify and recommend best practices and solutions. They will jointly identify suitable security solutions and processes to minimize risks to operations and data loss in the manufacturing process.

Head Mounted Display and Industrial Augmented Reality applications

Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of Head Mounted Displays and Augmented Reality applications aimed at raising productivity levels through enhanced information sharing. This will help to promote remote assistance for workers in hard-to-access areas and large factories.

Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing

Artificial Intelligence, such as deep learning, machine learning and genetic algorithm, could potentially help improve efficiencies in manufacturing and reduce costs. Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of such techniques through prototypes and proof of concepts, with the aim of developing them into applications for real-world deployments.

Human and Robotics Harmonization

To enable Humans and Robots to co-work in future factories, new tools in robotics programming and simulation are required to establish harmonized work between human and robots. Fujitsu and ARTC will explore the use of such harmonization tools through building test beds for manufacturing.

Machine Learning solutions

Machine learning has become the latest algorithms in analyzing data, solving challenges in anomaly detection and predictive maintenance. Fujitsu and ARTC will explore use of machine learning solutions and promote its use in various manufacturing scenarios.

Company quotes

Fujitsu

“It is an exciting time for manufacturers globally, who understand that technology and innovation hold the keys to success but may find it hard to keep up with the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Fujitsu aims to support Singapore’s push for advanced manufacturing, by offering insights and curating relevant solutions that bring the Digital Transformation journey to life. Through our partnership with ARTC, we hope to enable businesses of any size to gain access to data-driven innovation, and integrate the technologies into their processes. By offering greater access and helping businesses distill and identify relevant solutions, we hope to help the industry as a whole level up in terms of productivity and cost-efficiencies. Only then can the full potential of digital engineering be realized as we develop Factories of the Future.”

Fujitsu Singapore, Country President, Wong Heng Chew

ARTC

“The increasing pace of digitalization and the advancement of disruptive technologies are fundamentally changing industrial production. It is therefore absolutely necessary for companies across the value chain to embrace the digitalization journey to remain competitive. ARTC provides an industry-led open innovation platform that will enable our partners to test, fail, learn and apply technology solutions quickly. Through our partnership with Fujitsu, we will help the manufacturing industry, especially our local enterprises innovate more rapidly, and achieve greater productivity and revenue gains.”

ARTC, Chief Executive Officer, Dr David Low

Annex

Annex 1 – Fujitsu integrated design environment for product development (76 KB/A4, 1 page)

About ARTC

A*STAR’s Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) is the first centre in Asia, within the network of Advanced Research Centres (known as AxRCs). It is a platform built upon strong partnerships across the supply chain, complemented by technical support from research institutes and academia. With a purpose built facility, underpinned by world-class research expertise at A*STAR and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), ARTC aims to rapidly create solutions and bring these technologies into industrial production capabilities to the benefit of all its stakeholders. For more information on ARTC, please visitwww.a-star.edu.sg/artc.

About Fujitsu Ltd

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

* Please see this press release, with images, at:
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/ about/resources/news/press- releases/