Tianhe Magnetic Materials: Intelligent Manufacturing Solutions Help Upgrade Magnetic Material Production

Case Description

Baotou Tianhe Magnetic Material Technology Co., Ltd. is a key high-tech enterprise and technology innovation enterprise specializing in the research and development, production, and sales of high-performance rare earth permanent magnet materials. In 2015, the company began collaborating with Caijiang Intelligent to launch a digital transformation project. Through emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, 5G, and the Internet of Things, the entire process from product design to finished product delivery has been highly digitized. It has been rated as a demonstration enterprise of intelligent manufacturing technology in Baotou City and a national level "green factory". The company has successfully helped customers get through the enterprise operation management, supply chain and upstream and downstream data of the industrial chain through the introduction of the Caijiang Industrial Internet Platform, to realize the automatic collection and interconnection of data in production, quality inspection, storage, equipment, energy and other links, to achieve the improvement of production efficiency and quality, and to successfully achieve digital transformation and upgrading.

Application Products

   SRM          MES           EAM           QMS          WCS         WMS   

Company Profile

Baotou Tianhe Magnetic Material Technology Co., Ltd., abbreviated as "Tianhe Magnetic Material", with Deng Bai code 526528341, was founded in 2008. It is a key high-tech enterprise and technology innovation enterprise specializing in the research and development, production, and sales of high-performance rare earth permanent magnet materials. Our main products are rare earth permanent magnet neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) and samarium cobalt (SmCo).

Tianhe Magnetic Materials products are energy-saving and environmentally friendly, widely used in fields such as new energy vehicles and automotive components, wind power generation, energy-saving home appliances, rail transit, intelligent manufacturing, aerospace, computers, and various consumer electronics. At present, Tianhe Magnetic Material's 10000 ton production base has a complete industrial chain for rare earth permanent magnet production, including rare earth raw material supply, raw material production, finished product processing, and surface treatment. In addition, advanced production technology, production and research and development capabilities of high-end products, and design and manufacturing capabilities of key equipment have enabled Tianhe Magnetic Materials to form core advantages such as raw material supply, technological innovation, production capacity scale, and quality cost in the process of continuous development and growth.

Project background

• Production management involves multiple production processes

1. Challenge: The production process of magnetic materials involves multiple complex procedures, such as raw material preparation, melting, crushing, forming, sintering, magnetization, etc. Each process requires precise control and coordination, and traditional manual management and scheduling are difficult to cope with such complex production processes, which can easily lead to low production efficiency and unstable product quality.

2. Pain point: Difficulty in formulating and executing production plans, making it difficult to track and adjust production progress in real time. The connection between different processes is not smooth, which can easily lead to production bottlenecks and resource waste, affecting overall production efficiency and delivery capabilities.

3. Project objective: By introducing intelligent manufacturing systems, achieve automated management and optimized scheduling of production processes, and improve production efficiency and resource utilization. Implement intelligent scheduling and real-time monitoring of production plans to ensure smooth and efficient production processes.

• High loss rate of rare earth raw materials

1. Challenge: Rare earth raw materials are expensive and scarce, and the loss of raw materials during production directly affects the production costs and economic benefits of enterprises. Traditional manual operations and insufficient equipment precision can easily lead to waste and loss of raw materials.

2. Pain point: The utilization rate of raw materials is low, with a loss rate of over 20%, which increases production costs. Meanwhile, the waste of raw materials also has a certain impact on the environment, which does not meet the requirements of sustainable development.

3. Project objective: To improve the utilization rate of raw materials and reduce the loss rate to below 10% by optimizing production processes and equipment. Adopting advanced automated batching systems and precise measuring equipment to ensure accurate proportioning and use of raw materials, reducing waste.

• There are multiple quality control points and high requirements for product quality

1. Challenge: The quality of magnetic materials is influenced by various factors, such as raw material quality, process parameters during production, equipment status, etc. There are many quality control points, and the product quality requirements are extremely high. Traditional manual testing and quality control methods are difficult to meet the requirements.

2. Pain point: The consistency and stability of product quality are difficult to guarantee, which can lead to quality differences between batches. The low efficiency of quality inspection makes it impossible to achieve real-time monitoring and quality warning of the production process, resulting in a lag in the discovery and resolution of product quality problems.

3. Project objective: Establish a comprehensive quality control system to achieve real-time monitoring and quality warning of the production process. Adopting advanced quality inspection equipment and data analysis technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of quality inspection, ensure the consistency and stability of product quality, and meet the high standard requirements of customers.

• More manual homework

1. Challenge: There are a large number of manual operations in the production process, such as material handling, batching, loading, etc. These manual operations are not only inefficient, but also easily affected by human factors, leading to instability in the production process and fluctuations in product quality.

2. Pain points: Manual work has high labor intensity, low production efficiency, and is prone to operational errors and safety accidents. At the same time, manual labor is highly dependent on personnel, and personnel turnover has a significant impact on production, making it difficult to achieve standardization and normalization of production.

3. Project objective: To reduce manual work processes and achieve automation and intelligence in the production process through the introduction of automated equipment and systems. Improve production efficiency and safety, reduce personnel dependence, and achieve standardization and normalization of production.

Solution

• Procurement Management (SRM System)

Introducing the Caijiang SRM system, after the purchase order is issued, suppliers can log in to the SRM system to view order information, confirm delivery dates, arrange delivery, and enter logistics information into the system. After receiving the goods, the factory conducts quality inspection. After passing the inspection, the data is entered into the QMS system, and then the warehouse keeper uses the WMS system to scan the code and store the goods. The entire process from purchase order to delivery, receipt, inspection, and warehousing can be tracked in real-time in the system, including the quantity and amount of purchased materials. Implemented closed-loop management of the entire procurement process. Reconciliation and invoicing can be directly performed on the system. At the end of the month and year, the system will automatically generate reports and conduct data analysis. Greatly shortened the procurement cycle and improved procurement efficiency.

• Ingredient management

Strictly implement formula encryption and ingredient process confidentiality management using the Caijiang MOM system. After receiving the work order, the ingredient personnel use the MOM system to scan the code and automatically generate ingredient details. The weighing personnel should follow the system prompts and weigh the designated weight after receiving the corresponding materials. The Talent Craftsman MOM system will monitor ingredient data in real-time. If the weight exceeds or falls below the standard range, the system will directly pop up a prompt and cannot proceed with subsequent operations. During the weighing process, each person can only perform partial operations, ensuring the accuracy of ingredients from the source.

• Melting remote control

Introduce a remote control system for skilled workers' equipment to achieve remote operation of workshop equipment. Previously, a device required several employees to operate, resulting in low efficiency and easy errors in switching between processes. Now employees sitting in the control room can operate and manage all equipment simultaneously. Parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, and equipment status can be remotely monitored, and the system can provide real-time alerts in case of abnormalities, enabling immediate detection and handling.

• Equipment Management (EAM System)

Through the integration of automated equipment and control systems, equipment status monitoring, optimized scheduling, predictive maintenance, and risk warning have been achieved. At the start of production, employees use PDAs to scan dispatch orders and enter start and completion information, including working hours, quantity of defective products, operators, etc., which can achieve real-time tracking of the production process, break the "black box" of the workshop, and achieve process transparency.

• Intelligent Logistics AGV

Through the Caijiang Industrial IoT platform, real-time monitoring of the production status of various equipment, as well as the location and transportation status of AGVs, can be achieved. Combining big data and cloud computing technology, the system will automatically search for idle AGV vehicles, transfer vehicles, presses and other resources, and plan paths and schedule tasks based on production conditions. Issuing instructions to AGV to perform transportation operations has replaced manual handling, greatly improving transportation efficiency and safety.

• Quality management (traceability, AI visual recognition SPC)

Introduce the Talent Craftsman QMS system to transform product acceptance criteria into a systematic quality inspection plan. After the quality inspection personnel enter the measured values of the indicators into the system, the system will automatically determine whether they are qualified, and only those that are qualified will flow into the subsequent process. During this period, all data records will automatically generate quality inspection reports for easy viewing, analysis, and traceability.

The introduction of AI visual recognition equipment has achieved high-precision detection of products, ensuring that every qualified product has no defects. Use the Caijiang SPC (Statistical Process Control) data analysis tool to monitor production process capability. By analyzing quality inspection data, potential problems in the production process can be quickly identified and resolved.

• Warehouse management (three-dimensional warehouse WCS, WMS system)

The combination of a three-dimensional warehouse and the Caijiang WCS intelligent warehousing system has achieved automation and intelligence in warehouse management. The warehouse keeper only needs to scan the material QR code with a PDA, and the system will automatically allocate storage locations and command the stacker crane operation. It also includes functions such as planning storage areas and optimizing picking paths, achieving maximum utilization and efficiency of the three-dimensional warehouse.

Application value

1. Return on investment: By improving production efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing product quality, it is expected to achieve a higher return on investment in the future. Although the specific value of investment return rate is not clearly provided in the current data, it can be inferred from the improvement of various indicators that investment return rate has great potential.

2. Cost reduction ratio: energy consumption reduced by 3%, labor costs reduced by 25%, cost anomaly detection rate increased by 30%, cost control accuracy increased by 50%, logistics costs reduced by 10%, and procurement cost rate reduced by 5%.

3. Labor productivity: It can be seen from aspects such as a 20% reduction in production cycle, a 30% increase in production capacity, and a 25% reduction in labor costs that labor productivity has significantly improved.

4. Production efficiency: The production cycle has been shortened by 20%, production capacity has been increased by 30%, order delivery cycle has been shortened by 30%, inventory turnover rate has been increased by 20%, and production efficiency and equipment utilization have been improved through digital twin technology.