Tobacco Asia

Tobacco Asia 49 devices have replaced traditional manual monitor- ing, thereby enabling the collection of massive production data. All these data are aggregated to the industrial brain, which is the factory's smart manufacturing centralized control center. Faced with the aggregated massive data, the industrial brain needs to analyze, judge, and issue warnings. To this end, the factory established a comprehensive set of warning rules covering all op- erational areas, compiling them into a unified sum- mary. Using its smart centralized control platform, it integrates and tracks warning data from existing business systems, enabling full-process monitoring and visualization of alert statuses. This has created a warning management system that is data-driven, problem-focused, and event-triggered. The industrial brain - the smart manufactur- ing centralized control center - with continuous training of big data technology and AI algorithms, is no longer just perceiving data unilaterally but has gradually learned to "think." The AI simula- tion models in the industrial brain are widely used in the control of key processes, providing optimi- zation suggestions, thereby forming a new type of cigarette processing control model defined by self- perception, self-adaptation, and self-optimization. Additionally, Hefei Cigarette Factory has embraced digital twin technology to enhance its operations further. By simply opening the enter- prise's CPS handheld smart terminal, employees can realize intelligent monitoring, warning, and decision-making of the core elements of the fac- tory's production operations through simulation technology. The process is clear, and the results are fully under control, allowing employees to "carry the factory in their pockets." Hefei Cigarette Factory's deep understanding and execution of smart manufacturing have brought about a transformative change. In August 2023, the factory scored high and became one of the first cigarette factories in the Chinese tobacco industry to pass the national smart manufacturing maturity level 3 assessment. At the same time, it also passed the identification of smart factories in Anhui province, becoming CNTC Anhui branch's first provincial smart factory. By early 2024, the factory was included in China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 2023 list of smart manufacturing demonstration factories, successfully becoming one of the leading enterprises in smart manufacturing in the Chinese tobacco industry. Building smart factories with factory-level digital centers In the tobacco leaf-cutting processing workshop of Wuhan Cigarette Factory, part of China Tobacco Hubei Industrial Corporation, the intelligent tobacco cut-leaf drying machine, relying on smart production lines and digital twins, functions as a "super brain," rapidly processing historical operation data, en- vironmental weather, manual expertise, and other data related to the cut-leaf drying process. It automatically establishes precise regulation paths and meth- ods between product quality, process quality, and process parameters, enabling automatic perception and operation of the tobacco cut-leaf drying process. In the logistics workshop, the "sharp eyes" of the intelligent finished product sampling device have significantly optimized the sampling and testing process strategy for cigarette finished products. The new robotic arms in the auxiliary material area now achieve an automatic material allocation rate of over 90%, with warehouse throughput efficiency increasing by more than 20%. In the central control area, equipped with a 5G industrial application private network, the "highway" for factory mobile IoT information has been expanded, enabling real-time safety risk assessments, visual displays, and task assignments for hazard management. It ensures rapid responses and intelli- gent handling of safety incidents, bolstering overall operational safety. These advancements—intelligent perception, intelligent decision-mak- ing, precise control, fine production, human-machine interaction, and rapid response — scenes are different from traditional manufacturing and are vivid examples of Wuhan Cigarette Factory's transformation from "manufacturing" to "smart manufacturing." Among them, the establishment of the "factory- level digital center" has become a crucial step in building a "smart factory." The "industrial brain" serves as a smart manufacturing centralized control center.

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