Smart Manufacturing Tools Bring Flexibility for Battery Manufacturers
Key Highlights
- Electric vehicle battery manufacturers are navigating varied market dynamics, necessitating use of tools to help them remain productive and flexible.
- Battery manufacturers are looking to smart technologies like manufacturing execution systems (MES) to help them monitor, track and control all aspects of the manufacturing process.
- MES can bring a range of benefits to a battery manufacturing operation, enabling it to better adapt to changing production and market requirements.
There is a lot of shifting sand in the battery manufacturing world, requiring manufacturers to assess solutions that will help them manage ever-evolving market dynamics such as smart manufacturing technologies.
Electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturers are grappling with inventory and capacity alignment, while many businesses push forward with new factories. In addition, they are hoping to be ready for surges in demand for Lithium-Ion batteries as well as new battery types and chemical mixes hitting the market.
Other battery manufacturers are looking at product diversification to move into high-interest areas, including data centers or energy storage to meet recent North American booms in these sectors. Use of batteries for backup power systems to help the grid manage upgrades while navigating shifting energy demand is another market many are entering.
This is all occurring while battery builds for existing chemistries such as Ni-MH (nickel metal hydride) or lead-acid gain traction for use in the resurgence of hybrid vehicles, or secondhand equipment and machines.
Understanding what smart manufacturing technologies entail and the benefits they can offer can help battery manufacturers better navigate current and future market conditions.
View the below content to learn more about technology developments taking place in the battery industry.
The Current State of Battery Technology
Battery Technology Developments are Expanding Capabilities and Use Cases
Solid-State Batteries: Key Features and Benefits for Electric Vehicles
The Important Role Smart, Digital Manufacturing Systems Can Play
There’s a lot of chatter about the role manufacturing execution systems (MES) can play in tackling the ever-evolving battery manufacturing space. Specifically, how they can help keep (or, in many cases, make) production efficient, consistent, reliable, compliant, and aligned with quality standards, while being confident and nimble enough to embrace emerging business opportunities. This is an area the U.S. has lagged, fighting headwinds from decades of underinvestment and uncertainty that prevent agility.
Why This Matters
Fluid power and electromechanical motion control technologies are commonly used in the machinery which manufactures electric vehicle batteries. As such, their operation may be closely tied with various smart manufacturing tools, making it beneficial to have an understanding of how such tools are being employed and the various advantages they can offer.
Read "Festo Pneumatic and Electric Actuators Aid Battery Production" to learn more about the use of fluid power and electromechanical technologies in battery manufacturing.
MES is a software-based solution that enables users to monitor, track, document and control their manufacturing process, from the raw materials all the way to finished goods, helping to provide insight into all aspects of the manufacturing process.
Unsurprisingly, MES have emerged as a catalyst for change. They serve as a central nervous system connecting different processes, precision machinery, and people across the manufacturing floor and the entire production chain. They bring together production planning with the actual manufacturing process — where rubber meets the road — which is the only way to measure, manage, and monitor this complex ecosystem.
The global MES market is expected to grow to more than $25 billion by 2030 because it is very well positioned to complement and optimize investments in smart manufacturing, from industrial automation and precision machining to digital transformation.
MES Unlock the Potential to Extract Greater ROI from Smart Machinery
Over the past 5-10 years, the manufacturing industry has invested in making Industry 4.0 a reality. For many newer or reimagined EV and battery manufacturing plants, they have grown up on smart machines. They were quick to deploy in attempts to increase accuracy, enhance efficiency, and speed up production.
In fact, research shows that digitization of battery cell manufacturing can save a factory with 40 GWh capacity tens of millions of dollars and reduce emissions in the process.
Gigafactories, for example, spend billions of dollars on smart machinery, with high levels of automation already seen on the production line. As components get smaller, mixes get more complex, and quality control gets more precise, this is a natural evolution. It is also the answer to the talent gap, both freeing people for higher-value strategic tasks, while making the industry more attractive to generations of digital natives who can work alongside the best tools.
MES solutions unlock potential from smart machines by connecting individual touchpoints across the manufacturing floor. Battery components demand high quality control and have extremely tight tolerances. MES promotes both production quality and product safety. This level of precision, also spurred by new high-mix materials and chemical compounds, is where smart machinery and precision automation shine.
Better Traceability is Possible by Connecting Enterprise Systems with MES
Topping the list of areas where manufacturers are looking to apply technology is traceability. This is because raw materials still make up the large majority of EV and general battery production costs. Estimates range anywhere from 45% up to two thirds. This puts a premium on having visibility into raw materials from the second they are procured to when a battery is delivered as a finished product.
MES gives visibility into the entire product lifecycle, from raw materials to final delivery. It helps the manufacturing industry be more efficient and effective, a near-term answer to the many questions posed by rising materials and components costs. MES connects with ERP (enterprise resource planning), PLM (product lifecycle management), SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and machine-level systems. When done correctly, this is the holy grail of visibility.
This integration also helps with reporting and compliance as regulation and consumer trust place pressure on manufacturers. We’re fast approaching 2027, where “Battery Passports” will be required in Europe, which could migrate globally, and expect a future where there will be increased scrutiny placed on safety, traceability, composition, and supply chain due diligence.
Digital Tools Enable Intelligent Resource Optimization
Balancing production with demand, while also factoring in battery innovation and talent needs is a complex equation. It is unlikely to get easier. Generations are leaving the workforce. And the industry is waiting to reap the benefits of work being done at the schooling and legislative levels to make it an attractive proposition for the emerging workforce.
Digital twins and other predictive tools — many accessible through MES or digital manufacturing platforms — are an effective means to fill current gaps and run a more predictable and precise plant. Simulating any new production or shifts before making wholesale changes to manufacturing lines is a cost-effective way to eliminate waste and lower the consumption of resources until it is time to produce.
Furthermore, as events take place across the manufacturing line, MES platforms can trigger alerts or activity monitoring, which gives those in charge a more agile way of responding to and managing production shifts.
Understanding the Benefits of MES can Help Overcome Deployment Hesitation
Some battery manufacturing operations remain hesitant to adopt smart manufacturing tools like MES. Change can be scary, and manufacturers are right to question any solution before its adoption.
However, after researching options, many find there is a modern MES for them, it just might look and feel a little different than what they were expecting: Less cumbersome, simpler to implement, and more agile.
Reasons many manufacturers find it worthwhile to consider employing a modern MES include:
- Confidence to navigate the uncertainty of tomorrow: Manufacturers cannot leave themselves vulnerable to costly problems around the corner, during times of unprecedented change and evolution.
- Modern systems realize quicker ROI: Cloud-based options simplify procurement and deployment, while lowering upfront costs, meaning a better return on investment.
- Technical expertise is not necessarily needed with modern systems: Today’s MES systems are built on low-code or no code, lowering the barrier to entry, simplifying use, and eliminating burden on IT or technical experts.
- Systems can scale with business needs: Modern MES gives businesses the opportunity to scale integration and usage as needs dictate, whether simple data collection or a complete smart factory digital transformation.
No matter how you slice it, the EV and battery manufacturing space is both polymorphous in its immediate needs but ripe with long-term opportunity. As a result, battery manufacturers need to have a better means to manage, monitor, track, trace, and schedule production which is where smart manufacturing technologies like MES can provide a helping hand.
This article was written and contributed by Eric Symon, head of smart manufacturing at Panasonic Connect North America.
About the Author
Eric Symon
Head of Smart Manufacturing, Panasonic Connect North America
Eric Symon is head of smart manufacturing at Panasonic Connect North America. Eric has held executive positions at market-leading software and professional services companies delivering value through digital transformation to customers in manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and retail industries. Eric holds a B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University.
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