The deeply influential branch of industrial engineering focuses on the design, development, analysis, and optimization of complex processes and systems. The goal of industrial engineering is to improve upon products and system design to optimize them for performance, safety, efficiency, and ultimately, costs.

That said, technology today plays a significant role in driving the outcomes of industrial engineering. Over the past years, technology has been instrumental in helping industries such as manufacturing, automotive, construction, etc. transform operations and drive competitiveness. 

These sectors are now making a generational shift from the traditional machine-based assembly line to the smart factory mode. Technology is also driving competitiveness and helping businesses involved in the production of industrial goods emerge from the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and move toward profitability. 

But there are some key challenges to consider.

Key Challenges Facing the Industrial Sector

The industrial sector is currently reeling under some significant challenges. The three key ones are:

• Labor shortages – The manufacturing sector is looking at labor shortages, with the expected deficit to touch 7.9 million jobs by 2030. 
• Rising inflation – The rising cost of materials, energy, transportation, etc., are leading companies to look at ways to streamline their operations.
• Diversity of scope – The diversity and scope of manufacturing products lead to complexity of operations. Since each product has its specific requirement, technology solutions at work also have to be more comprehensive and fit in seamlessly with the existing technology framework. 

Favorably, technology is helping industries operating in this space navigate these challenges and drive competitiveness in a tough, disruptive, volatile, and global market. Here are some of the technology trends impacting the practice of industrial engineering:

1. Robotics and Automation

Robotics has made significant headway in the industrial sector, especially in industries such as manufacturing and automotive. Be it to increase production speed, compensate for the rising labor shortage, or improve the safety of factory workers, robotics brings immense advantages.

This technology is being put to use to increase production rates without compromising quality. Robots increase product accuracy and consistency since they are more accurate than humans and can work long hours without getting tired. These robots can also be programmed to handle tasks that are dangerous, time-consuming, or difficult for humans, such as stacking products onto a pallet (palletizing) or unloading them (depalletizing).

In fact, the use of robotic arms equipped with computer vision systems is now all set to increase to reduce injury rates and errors by leveraging object detection models.

2. Supply Chain Automation and Optimization

Organizations are looking to optimize their operations, especially the supply chain, to make it more resilient, efficient, and cost-effective. Automating and improving assembly, supply chain, and logistics operations is now imperative for profitability.

Industrial engineering has to look at solutions to optimize supply chains by applying mathematical modeling, simulation, and optimization techniques.

As equipment such as sensors come into increasing use, technologies such as computer vision and AI can play a significant role in information gathering and making the processes faster and time efficient by:

• Efficiently digitizing processes
• Improving traceability and trackability of objects
• Identifying volumetric properties of goods
• Assessing occupancy of storage and traffic areas, etc.

3. Dark Factories

Remote monitoring, servicing, and equipment operation are capabilities that increase efficiencies without on-site presence. Technologies such as digital twins, AR and VR, AI, and computer vision are the enablers of these capabilities, as computing power allows people to operate as though they were in the same room as the machine.

These technologies have been instrumental in improving manufacturing processes and have allowed the rise of dark factories. In dark factories, the production process is extremely streamlined, and machines are programmed to operate at maximum capacity.

While dark factories that run entirely without any human intervention are still futuristic, the levels of automation are increasing across factories. It will be interesting to see how this trend develops as Industry 4.0 matures and the Industry 5.0 emerges.

4. Computer Vision

Computer vision is becoming one of those technologies that is influencing the world of industrial engineering distinctly. It makes its presence felt across almost all important technology trends, including robotics and automation, supply chain and assembly line, and other technologies driving the Industry 4.0 ecosystem.

Given its impact, the computer vision market is expected to grow from $14.65 billion in 2023 to $33.13 billion by 2028 at a healthy CAGR of 17.72%.

Reports show that the rapid advancements in hardware such as facial unlock features, eye-retina scanners, fingerprint scanners, and other smart features are also contributing towards industry growth.

Apart from this, the rapid pace of digitalization driven by the growing need for predictive maintenance and quality assurance is making computer vision a valuable technology investment.

As with any new technology that enters the market, computer vision solutions, too, need to pass the security test. Apart from ensuring that the solutions capture visuals and interpret data to drive intelligent decisions, they must also be highly secure.

Comprehensive computer-vision-based automation platforms are ready to become more visible in the industrial engineering space. This is especially so as more organizations are looking towards intelligent automation to drive efficiencies, improve product quality with customized parameters for QA, save costs, and prevent non-compliance.

Connect with our team of experts to see how KamerAI’s comprehensive end-to-end extensible and scalable visual analytics solutions can boost your operations and profits.