Creation of New Manufacturing Diagnostic Process by Co-creation with Customer

A key issue at manufacturing sites is how to ensure that manufactured products are consistent with the design. Manual labor still remains a part of industrial manufacturing processes in many industries. Human intervention unavoidably involves human error and it is important to find ways to promptly detect them so as to prevent rework. In the steel structure industry, for example, shortening of construction period, cost reduction, and securing of quality are urgently needed to survive the fierce competition for orders, and manufacturers are taking active approaches to eradicate rework due to human error. Fujitsu has analyzed the causes of rework in existing manufacturing processes and tested hypotheses from a technical perspective and from the viewpoint of users. The purpose is to build a system that allows anybody to easily diagnose manufacturing defects by applying ICT. This has led to the establishment of a "new manufacturing diagnostic process" making use of augmented reality (AR) technology. This new manufacturing diagnostic process has been verified jointly with a customer to achieve a tenfold improvement in productivity from the conventional process and eradicate rework arising from human error. The new manufacturing diagnostic process has also contributed to the development of FUJITSU Manufacturing Industry Solution 3D-CHOJYO. CHOJYO in Japanese means "superimpose." This paper describes the course of activities relating to the new manufacturing diagnostic process, including hypothesis testing, demonstration, and product creation.