Steven O’Mahoney, Business Development Manager, Hanwha Vision America investigates how surveillance cameras can reduce downtime and maximize productivity.
Unplanned downtime is a killer for any manufacturer. It disrupts productivity and reduces profitability.
In worst case scenarios, it can negatively impact brand reputation, total product availability or product availability timelines.
According to the International Society of Automation, unplanned downtime can cost manufacturing plants between 5–20% of their annual productivity.
Today’s advanced AI-enabled video surveillance solutions can play a vital role in limiting unplanned downtime.
With AI-powered cameras and devices, manufacturers can better protect their people and facilities, ensure compliance with demanding regulations and requirements and maximize productivity across their operations.
For critical plant equipment – like broaching, drilling, laser cutting and welding machines or conveyor belts – AI radiometric thermal cameras can help facility managers ensure that safe operating temperature limits are not exceeded.
Temperature changes are often the earliest warning sign of current or future equipment problems.
If overheating occurs, production supervisors are immediately alerted and can use those valuable insights to perform the necessary preventive maintenance tasks before a more costly breakdown occurs, potentially leading to unplanned downtime.
This information can help maintenance professionals determine optimal proactive equipment maintenance procedures: when to schedule component and system checks, the number of operating hours between fluid interval changes (lubricants, greases) and more.
Other areas of the plant floor where AI-enabled video surveillance solutions can optimize factory uptime is by identifying workload stresses for assembly workers and even manufacturing robots.
By analyzing continuous data from sensors, AI-enabled video surveillance solutions can help prevent specific robots from being overloaded, reducing wear and tear on their mechanical parts, and the risk of failure or downtime.
Properly positioned AI surveillance cameras enable manufacturers to identify real-time workplace hazards such as slip-and-fall incidents, improper lifting of heavy materials, poor handling of hazardous materials or employees neglecting to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Another key area where safety can be improved with the right AI video surveillance solution is improper or unsafe forklift operations, which is one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and death.
In many countries, it’s estimated that forklifts are involved in more than 5% of workplace-related serious injuries and more than 10% of workplace-related deaths.
Intelligent surveillance cameras are increasingly incorporating sophisticated and precise AI applications, including improving forklift safety.
This is one of the best ways that manufacturing facilities can save lives, protect employees, minimize compliance infractions and reduce costly legal expenses.
Solutions available on the market can combine video surveillance technologies with software and AI analytics to monitor a forklift’s operations.
Cameras equipped with this technology can provide various alarms that immediately alert operators and security professionals when encountering hazardous environments or if unsafe driving conditions are in progress.
If drivers exceed pre-designated safe forklift speed limits, they receive an instant notification and warning to slow down.
These alerts are logged and sent to security professionals who are monitoring the factory or plant floor either onsite, or from a remote location, enabling them to always have immediate access to this important safety information.
When a forklift is parked in the wrong location, similar alarms will be triggered.
Also, proximity detection notifications ensure that there is always a safe distance maintained between a person and a forklift, between multiple forklifts or a forklift and a piece of equipment or structure, like tall columned shelving stacks.
In addition to enhancing the safety of forklift operations, the AI-enabled solution can also detect slip and fall incidents, ensuring entrances and exits are free from hazards and managed in accordance with OSHA standards.
Maintaining and reporting on compliance with crucial maintenance, operating and sustainability-related regulations, is essential for successful manufacturing facilities. However, it’s often a time-consuming process.
By providing detailed logs and reports of monitored environments, AI-driven surveillance systems can help companies enhance and simplify their compliance reporting efforts.
Real-time alerts help document every access attempt or unsafe action, like personnel not wearing proper PPE or being in unauthorized areas.
Automated reports, with this level of transparency and accountability, enable manufacturers to accurately assess their team’s overall compliance with industry and safety regulations, and reduce time and money spent on compliance reporting efforts.
They can also help validate the effectiveness of current training efforts or identify areas that require further employee training to maintain safe operating procedures.
Shipping and delivery errors occur for many reasons. Packages can be lost, damaged, delayed or stolen. They may be addressed to the wrong customer or packed with incorrect and/or missing items.
Any of these issues can create negative attention for a brand – and more often than not, will produce negative customer experiences.
There are new options available to help manufacturing facilities support advanced logistics automation, integration and reporting.
These integrated AI-powered surveillance solutions cover every part of inbound and outbound package delivery, including receiving, handling, shipping and tracking.
They quickly match videos with work history, enabling operators to respond effectively to customer claims for errors, omissions or damage throughout the packing process.
Edge-based AI cameras can oversee the safety of dock loading and unloading, helping operators to minimize hazards and easily document and report on compliance with all safety and industry regulations.
One example includes a barcode reader camera (BCR) that combines barcode recognition, video capture, parcel tracking and logistics management all in a single AI-powered device.
This single-system design lowers installation and maintenance costs compared to conventional systems with separate BCR and CCTV devices.
Tracking software can communicate with logistics centers’ barcode reading systems to facilitate product and tracking inquiries.
For manufacturers, making every second count is essential. Lost productivity kills profitability.
Poor safety practices and outdated security technologies invite danger in the form of intruders and bad actors who may steal your valuable equipment, pose threats to employee safety and/or disrupt operations in other unforeseen ways.
By investing in the right AI-enabled video surveillance solutions, manufacturers can take major leaps toward improving plant floor productivity, limiting unplanned downtime, workplace safety, compliance reporting and supply chain efficiency.
