Johnson Controls (JCI) HVACR Trends - GineersNow Engineering Magazine Key Trends Making Our Cities Greener & Smarter | Page 29

“We have established our operations in
Singapore for 45 years and right now we are
seeing huge growth opportunities here in Asia.
The opening of RCBU marks our commitment
to being the leading refrigeration compressor
company globally through a focus on cutting-
edge innovation. We are eager to embark
on this journey of transformation through a
combination of R&D and smart solutions to
support our growth in the Singapore market
and beyond,” said Mr. Atsunao Terasaki,
Director of RCBU & Managing Director of
PAPRDSG.
Mr. Lim Kok Kiang, Assistant Managing
Director of EDB said, “This latest investment
by Panasonic Refrigeration Compressor
Business Unit marks a new milestone in the
transformation of its Singapore operations
into a global R&D centre as well as a digitally-
enabled Smart Factory. We are heartened
by Panasonic’s confidence in Singapore as
we move towards advanced manufacturing
to position our economy for the future. We
look forward to working with Panasonic in
driving innovation and capturing new growth
opportunities.”
Transformation into a SMART
factory
With a full suite of R&D functions in place,
PAPRDSG is set to evolve into a SMART
factory in phases. The first phase will see a
consolidation of operations, the introduction
of automated guided vehicles (AGV) to replace
manual transportation of parts, optimized
supply routes and the establishment of a
centralized storage.
The second phase will kick in to further
support the streamlined operations through
big data and automation. Using manufacturing
execution system (MES) integration and
production traceability, the factory will be well-
equipped to integrate operational information
and data for inventory, production quantity,
equipment, and quality inspection to achieve
advanced manufacturing. Combined with
the deployment of advanced robots and
automation equipment, the efficiency of
manual, human assembly and skill-based
processes will drastically improve.
Through the final phase, devices will be
integrated for full connectivity to enable
the monitoring of production against key
performance indicators (KPI) as well as real-
time operation control and monitoring of
quality, inventory, equipment and processes
through a remote centralized system.
The factory is expected to be fully revamped
with smart manufacturing processes over the
next five years.
HVACR Leaders • May 2017
27