Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. (Hankook) has introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) technology that would “revolutionise” production and save it from costly shutdowns by predicting a possible problem before it occurs. Named CMS+, Hankook is in the process of installing the system in all major equipment in the company’s Geumsan plant in South Korea; Hankook plans to install the new system in all its facilities eventually, including its Tennessee plant in the US.
According to Hankook, the CMS+ technology can prevent shutdowns and production line problems through its ability to record a select amount of data, and determine in real time whether the data falls within normal or abnormal conditions.
Digital technology specialist at Hankook, Sungmin Kim, said wireless sensors will be placed on key pieces of equipment along the production line to record changes in output, vibration, noise and temperature,for specific thresholds, in real time. The CMS+ system will also study fault data, using a separate collection of data from malfunctions; when similar cases show up, the system will determine that it has an abnormality.
“Various data is collected in real time and used to predict abnormality: CMS+ studies the normal range data and finds those that are outside that ‘normal range.’ This is possible because Hankook has accumulated massive amounts of data over time,” Kim said.”Different sensors collect data, which are then incorporated together for analysis. The CMS+ system consistently studies all data to create this algorithm.”
Kim added that CMS+ also comes with a real-time alarm system based on wireless communication, “In the case of anomalies, the system immediately alerts the manager, which allows for fast and appropriate action.”
In short, CMS+ can prevent possible machine malfunction – identifying minor symptoms in real time and performing maintenance in advance play key roles in preventing major facility failures, Hankook said.
“We ran a test run with a utility that was up for maintenance and the system immediately found an equipment error, which was also confirmed by our experts. CMS+[…] will add reassurance in the analysis process, helping our experts make efficient decisions on their reviews.”
Hankook revealed the CMS+ system was developed in conjunction with the system intelligence lab at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Hankook signed an agreement with KAIST in April 2019 for joint industry-academic research on future technologies, which has led to Hankook’s Virtual Compound Design system, a predictive model for tyre compound properties using AI, and the Automatic Inspection Process, also based on AI and digital sensors.With help from KAIST, Hankook said it was “able to create a system that best suits Hankook, and no one else.”
Professor Jinkyoo Park of KAIST, who assisted in the development of CMS+, explained that data analysis is three to four times more precise than the old system, as the new system uses a three-step AI algorithm i.e. a sensor module, a gateway and a server, instead of sensors with wires and cables. The new system fuses together data from all areas of a production line—IT, equipment, mechanics and timelines for production runs, and uses the information to predict when and where abnormal conditions could occur.
“It was impossible (previously) to store vast amounts of sensor data transmitted in real time due to limitation in server capacity,” Park said. “However, the AI algorithm equipped in the next-generation wireless-based IoT module and gateway made it possible to automatically sort out and selectively store the data suspected of abnormalities.”(The Internet of Things (IoT) is the interconnection of the internet and computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.)
Hankook said it will continue to work with KAIST on the development of further “smart factory” features.