IMPACT OF AUTOMATED SYSTEM ON PRODUCTION PROCESS IN FACTORY BUILDING DESIGNS.
ABSTRACT
Industrial Design involves systematic planning of processes, machinery, and techniques geared towards mass production. Automation is an important application in industries design. When put together in an ideal industrial design, this can culminate into increase in the overall productivity efficiency of a processing line. Automated production when applied in Nigerian context can boost overall manufacturing index than the conventional manual applications. The use of automation in industrial design will improve efficiency of functions, reduce the wastage of materials and produce high accuracy and clean products unlike the manual application. The aim of this study is to identify the architectural values associated with adaptation of automated production processes in industrial design in Abuja city. This is done through literature review and case studies of factories where the systems are compared. From this comparison of production processes, architectural components and productivity values can be identified which present the rationale for the adoption of automated production as most effective application in modern day industrial applications. Some of the findings gotten from these case studies shows that, the spaces in the automated factory are limited and are more functional than of the non-automated factories where most of the spaces where used for keeping production wastes and old equipment. Building materials with high performance in absorbing sound and vibration are the most used in automated factories because of the automated production. Automated factories had high efficiency and productivity values. The study recommendations include; there is need for factory buildings to have a proper waste management system to minimize wastes in order to achieve a sustainable design which will promote health and safety of workers. Architect should focus more on the design of the structure itself and the production line that will flow fluently without any obstruction from another process.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The term automation, inspired by the earlier word automatic (coming from automaton), was not widely used before 1947, when Ford established an automation department (Rifkin & Jeremy, 1995). Automation was coined in the automobile industry about 1946 to describe the increased use of automatic devices and control in mechanized production lines (Groover, 2020). It was during this time that industry was rapidly adopting feedback controllers, which were introduced in the 1930s (Bennett, 1993).
Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with a minimal human assistance (Groover & Mikell, 2014). Automation can be defined as a technology concerned with performing a process by means of programmed commands combined with automatic feedback control to ensure proper execution of the instructions, the resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention (Groover, 2020). Automation is the use of various control systems for equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers, and heat-treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering, and stabilization of ships, aircraft, and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention (Rifkin & Jeremy, 1995).
In manufacturing industries, the need for automation is very important because it is associated with faster productivity of products and it reduces labor costs. The process is much faster than the manual method. Industrial automation involves the use of control systems, such as computers or robots, and information technologies for handling different processes and machineries in an industry to replace a human being (Thunder, 2013). According to Lamb & Frank (2013), automation replaces hard, physical, or monotonous work. The process of automation is reducing the human operation in tasks that involve hard physical (e.g., the transportation of heavy objects from one place to another by the use of multiple workers can be done using a forklift and a single worker safely). As regards production costs, the use of automation and robotics in manufacturing industries reduce cost expenses like the cost of labor, because few workers are required to undertake this process.
Most robots increase productivity, improve worker safety and make work more comfortable (Nsude, 2020). In Nigeria, the use of robotics and automation technology is rare in most manufacturing centers, leading to lower productivity and less quality products, and this came about due to poor administrative support and inadequate staff training etc. Lack of funding is major challenge in application of this technology and the reason why most industries deployed the manual production process which requires longer period, less accurate, and high labor cost. According to Nsude (2020), it is therefore expected that the deployment of robots can lead to economic growth and national development in Nigeria (Nsude, 2020).
Automation technology has matured to a point where a number of technologies have developed from it and have achieved recognition and status of its own, robotics belongs to the class of one of these technologies which is a specialized branch of automation in which the automated machine possesses certain human like characteristics (Groover, 2020). In the view of rapid advances in technology, there is a surge of public interest in automation and robotics (IFR, 2017; Nsude, 2020). It has been estimated by IFR that over 25 million industrial robots will be at work in 2019 thereby representing an average annual rate of 12% between 2016 and 2019 (IFR, 2016; Nsude, 2020). Therefore, the anticipated industrial revolution no doubt has led to debates by many scholars and researchers who argue for and against the use of robots particularly in the areas of productivity and employment (IFR, 2015; Nsude, 2020).
The field of architecture and engineering have a role to play in the design of manufacturing industries, as the rising of the new innovations like artificial intelligence which is now globally replacing the human tasks in industries, the design steps need to be transformed to match the concept of automation. The new technology is thereby enabling architects to design and build more efficiently by reducing waste and lowering costs. It also helps architect to improve safety by reducing risk through better planning and handing off the most dangerous tasks to machines and to design more sustainable industries to reduce the negative environmental impact of construction (Autodesk University, 2019). Spaces required for manual workers will be reduce as most tasks will be operated by machines which will utilized the use of spaces. In manual production, the larger the production capacity, the more manual workers are required to undergo the processes and more usable spaces needed. While using the automated system will help utilize the processes and spaces with less worker needed to operate the processes.
1.2 Research Problem
In Nigeria, industrial design is still reliant on the conventional mechanized manufacturing process. There is a huge gap between manufacturing in Nigeria and other Developed/ Developing countries owing to lack of Automated production. Countries like Japan, Germany, Sweden, China, and USA that are heavily invested in the use of robotics and automation are also among the most productive nations globally, while Nigeria continues to struggle to meet the local demands and become globally competitive (Adekoya, 2017). This study presents the comparative values and huge impact on productivity growth by adoption of Automation in industrial processing design which will enable architects to design more creative and sustainable industries in order to reduce costs, utilize spaces, and improve safety.
1.3 Justification of the Study
The use of automation in manufacturing industries is now becoming global trend as new technologies are invented which include the automated machines and robotics that performed most of the tasks in factories thereby changing the human operation. This results to change in the design of factories to factories that are more efficient thereby reducing the costs by utilizing space. Also, this research will help in comparing the relationship between automated manufacturing and growth in productivity in factories, Abuja. However, the research will explain the importance and efficiency of automated systems in factories, and how it can be adopted in the design of modern.
1.4 Aim and Objectives
The aim of this study is to identify the architectural values associated with adaptation of automated production processes in industrial design in Abuja city.
The objectives of this research are;
- To determine how automation will improve safety in the production process.
- To determine the impact of automation in design of production process in factory building designs
- To compare the production capacity, efficiency, and waste reduction between automated and non-automated factories.
1.5 Research Questions
- What impact does automation have on the design of production process in factory building designs?
- How does automation improve efficiency in production process? iii. How can automated systems be adopted into modern factory building designs?
1.6 Scope and Limitation
This study focuses on the Impact of Automated System on Production Process in Factory Building design in Abuja. It also focuses on making comparison between furniture manufacturing processes that used automated system and non-automated in order to compare their production processes and productivity values. The outcome of this study is expected to highlight the role of automation over manual production system and encourage manufacturing industries to deploy automation to increase productivity in faster and safer way.
1.7 Study Area
The study area for this research is Abuja. Abuja is the Federal capital city of Nigeria which is found around the center of the country. Abuja is located on the latitude of 9.0765˚N and longitude 7.3986˚E with a total area of 1769km2. It is a tropical region consisting of dry and wet season. The warmest month is April, and the driest month is December. 25.7˚C is the average temperature and the average annual rainfall is about 1389mm, the month with the highest record of rainfall is September with about 284mm.
It is also a center for businesses and manufacturing industries that produces varieties of finished products, and most of these industries are situated at Idu Industrial district which would be sited for this study. Such industries include furniture production factories, cement, concrete, textile, and food processing factories etc. Abuja is a heavily built-up area with good infrastructures.
IMPACT OF AUTOMATED SYSTEM ON PRODUCTION PROCESS IN FACTORY BUILDING DESIGNS.