It is a great honor to outline the current hot issues and solutions in the non-standard automation industry for you. The non-standard automation industry is at a critical turning point filled with both opportunities and challenges. The core value of non-standard automation lies in solving specific problems for specific customers, achieving flexibility, intelligence, and cost reduction in “small batch, multi-variety” production.
With the global manufacturing upgrade (such as China Manufacturing 2025 and Industry 4.0) and the continuous rise in labor costs, market demand is strong. However, at the same time, the inherent pain points of the industry are magnified in the new environment, giving rise to new hot issues.
—1. Major Hot Issues
The current issues can be summarized into three major levels: technical implementation, project management, and business strategy.
(1) Hot Issues at the Technical Implementation Level
1. Surge in Demand for Flexibility and Rapid Changeover
- Problem Description: Traditional non-standard equipment is mostly "special machines" that can only produce a single product. Nowadays, the market product lifecycle is shortened, and personalized demands are increasing. Customers require a production line to quickly adapt to different models and products, with changeover times reduced from several hours to minutes or even seconds.
- Pain Point: The mechanical structure is too rigid, and the control system is fixed, requiring a lot of manual adjustments and changes to fixtures and molds during changeover, leading to inefficiency and a high likelihood of errors.
2. Insufficient Intelligence and Serious Data Silos
- Problem Description: Many non-standard devices are still at the "automation" stage, lacking "intelligence." The equipment cannot sense its own status, predict failures, or optimize process parameters. The equipment is not compatible with upper-level MES (Manufacturing Execution System) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, creating data silos where production data cannot be effectively utilized.
- Pain Point: Customers cannot achieve digital lean management; equipment failures occur frequently and are unpredictable; product quality traceability is difficult; hidden costs such as energy consumption are high.
3. Shortage of Technical Talent and Difficulty in Knowledge Transfer
- Problem Description: Non-standard automation is an interdisciplinary field, and excellent mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, and machine vision engineers are very scarce. The experience of senior engineers is difficult to accumulate and standardize, new employees take time to get up to speed, and project quality heavily relies on individual capabilities.
- Pain Point: High labor costs; significant project delivery risks; enterprise development is limited by talent bottlenecks.(2) Hot Issues at the Project Management Level
1. Long Project Cycles and Difficult Cost Control
- Problem Description: The phenomenon of "designing, processing, and debugging simultaneously" is common in non-standard projects, leading to easy project delays. Frequent changes in design plans, delays in the delivery of purchased parts, and repeated on-site debugging cause costs to far exceed the budget.
- Pain Point: Low profit margins; poor customer satisfaction; significant cash flow pressure on the company.
2. Challenges in Delivery Quality and Stability
- Problem Description: Non-standard equipment needs to undergo a long "commissioning period" at the customer's site, with frequent stability issues. Due to the lack of strict testing standards and environments, many problems cannot be exposed before leaving the factory.
- Pain Point: High after-sales maintenance costs; impact on normal customer production; damage to company reputation.(3) Hot Issues at the Business Strategy Level
1. Homogeneous Competition and Price Wars
- Problem Description: The industry has a relatively low entry barrier, leading to a large influx of small and medium-sized enterprises that imitate each other in technical solutions, ultimately falling into fierce price wars that compress the profit margins and innovation drive of the entire industry.
- Pain Point: Difficult to achieve premium pricing; insufficient R&D investment; enterprise development falls into a vicious cycle.
2. The Contradiction Between Standardization and Customization
- Problem Description: The essence of non-standard automation is customization, but complete customization leads to inefficiency. How to introduce standardized modules without sacrificing flexibility is a fundamental contradiction that has long existed in the industry.—2. Major Solutions and Development Trends
In response to the above issues, leading companies and practitioners in the industry are actively exploring the following solutions:
(1) Technical Solutions
1. Modular and Platform-Based Design
- Solution: Decompose equipment into multiple functionally independent modules (such as feeding modules, handling modules, inspection modules, etc.). Build technical platforms for specific industries (such as 3C, lithium batteries, photovoltaics) to quickly respond to different customer needs through "Lego-style" module combinations.
- Value: Significantly shorten design and manufacturing cycles, reduce costs and error rates, and facilitate maintenance and upgrades. This is the core path to solving flexibility and cost issues.
2. Deep Integration of Industrial Software and Digital Twin
- Solution:
- Digital Twin: Complete 3D modeling, motion simulation, electrical debugging, and process optimization of equipment in a virtual environment to identify design defects in advance and eliminate problems at the bud stage.
- Standardized Data Collection: Built-in IoT gateways, unified device data interfaces, seamless integration with MES/ERP systems, providing customers with real-time monitoring, OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) analysis, predictive maintenance, and other value-added services.
- Value: Enhance intelligence levels, achieve data-driven decision-making, transform from "selling equipment" to "selling services," and increase customer stickiness.
3. Extensive Application of Cutting-Edge Technologies
- Solution:
- Machine Vision and AI: Use AI vision for high-precision positioning and complex defect detection, replacing human judgment to enhance flexibility and accuracy.
- Collaborative Robots (Cobots): Work alongside humans without safety barriers, easy to program, very suitable for material handling, loading, and unloading tasks in flexible production lines.
- Process Optimization AI: Automatically optimize equipment operating parameters (such as temperature, pressure, speed) through machine learning algorithms to improve product quality and efficiency.(2) Project Management and Delivery Solutions
1. Implement Lean Project Management and Agile Development
- Solution: Introduce project management tools (such as Jira, Asana), clarify project milestones, and strengthen milestone reviews. Borrow agile development ideas, maintain high-frequency communication with customers, take small steps quickly, iterate rapidly, and effectively control the risk of requirement changes.
- Value: Improve the on-time delivery rate and budget compliance rate of projects.
2. Establish a Strict Testing and Verification System
- Solution: Establish a standardized debugging workshop within the company to simulate customer site environments and conduct FAT (Factory Acceptance Testing). Develop a detailed list of test cases to ensure that equipment meets predetermined stability and performance indicators before leaving the factory.
- Value: Reduce on-site debugging time and after-sales pressure, enhance customer trust.(3) Innovation in Business and Organizational Models
1. Transition from Equipment Suppliers to Solution Service Providers
- Solution: No longer just provide a single piece of equipment, but offer full lifecycle services covering solution consulting, equipment integration, installation and debugging, operation and maintenance services, spare parts support, and technical training. Explore service models charged by output or operating time.
- Value: Escape the price war red sea, establish long-term stable customer relationships, and obtain continuous revenue cash flow.
2. Build Knowledge Management Systems and Talent Training Systems
- Solution: Establish an internal knowledge base/module library, standardize and document successful cases, design specifications, and common problem-solving solutions. Establish a "mentor-apprentice" system and systematic training to accelerate the growth of new employees and reduce dependence on individuals.
- Value: Transform individual experience into organizational assets, enhancing the overall combat effectiveness of the team.Summary and Outlook
The non-standard automation industry is evolving from traditional “workshop-style” to modular, digital, and intelligent modern high-end equipment manufacturing. The future winners will be those who can:
- Look inward: Solve efficiency, cost, and quality stability issues through modular platforms and digital twin technology.
- Expand outward: Create value beyond the equipment itself through data services and full lifecycle management, achieving business model upgrades.
- Look far: Continuously invest in cutting-edge technologies such as AI, 5G, and edge computing, and deeply integrate them with specific processes to form core technological barriers.
This industry, while facing enormous challenges, is also a core support for the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry, with broad prospects and limitless opportunities.