(Credit: Pixabay)A cloud-based manufacturing platform for high tech industries such as energy and aerospace offered by Andea will be deployed at Heliogen sites in North America as part of a partnership between the companies.
The platform is called Manufacturo and is a manufacturing execution system and supply chain software. It provides applications and data for multiple manufacturing models from fully automated and high-volume production to complex manual operations, Andea says.
The data-driven system offers traceability throughout an operation, process planning and operations synchronization. The companies say the offering will help shape the platform for further implementation into the manufacturing market.
Heliogen will get a tailored Manufacturo platform designed for its operational and manufacturing needs as part of the partnership. It will be implemented at multiple sites, including Heliogen’s main heliostat manufacturing facility in Long Beach, California.
The renewable energy company will use the platform to help it expand its solar power offering by utilizing advanced computer software and artificial intelligence to align an array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a target on the top of a tower.
The cloud-based nature of the platform will help Heliogen with continuous product development and a tool to manage and track manufacturing processes as it works toward renewable energy initiatives, the companies say. Heliogen has been active in renewable projects and recently successfully made green hydrogen with Bloom Energy by combining solar energy and electrolyzers.
As technology and automation increase in manufacturing, around 90% of the businesses use some form of cloud technology in their operations, according to manufacturing service provider MANTEC. The organization says cloud-based systems in improve reliability, optimization and centralization of operations and cut costs.
The Manufacturo platform was developed by a team of Space-X alumni who designed and built manufacturing and supply chain software used in the production of rockets, satellites and user terminals. Andea has platforms deployed at 218 manufacturing sites in 53 countries.
