Nissan’s production line building is 10 times faster with “AI & simulation integration technology”
NEC Corporation (NEC) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) announced today that they have collaborated with Nissan Motor Co. on a pilot test to improve the efficiency of pre-evaluation and operation of a production line using AI and simulation integration technology, demonstrating a 10-fold increase in the speed and accuracy of production line construction and planning changes with a prediction error of less than 1/6th.
AI & simulation integration technology automatically builds sophisticated simulations in a short period of time to support optimal decision making from less data.
This time, the production simulator used in Nissan’s actual production line was utilized to conduct a pilot experiment to estimate parameters that would yield accurate results.
In the past, it used to take about a month to set up the parameters, such as the average time required for each process on an increasingly complex mixed-mix production line, as well as the allocation of personnel and robots, manually. In this pilot test, this was achieved in about one day.
Also, the error in predicting production efficiency in the simulation was improved from about 20% to about 3%.
If this technology is applied to an automaker, the benefits are estimated to be in the tens of billions of yen.
Optimal decision support from less data
In this pilot study, the production line planning and highly accurate predictions were achieved with only about a month’s volume of data for final process throughput.
Unlike conventional decision support based on big data analysis, which is the typical way of using AI technology, this AI technology automatically generates simulation data and complements the real data to enable optimal decision making even with little data.
The technology is widely applicable to manufacturers of heavy industry, chemicals, semiconductors, precision instruments, etc., as well as to logistics companies in general, in addition to automobile manufacturers.
NEC-AIST AI Cooperative Research Laboratory, which developed this technology, combined simulation and AI technologies, and is working on the following technologies from basic principle research to industrial application research and development.
- The Technology of Knowing Special, Extreme, and Unexpected Events
- Advanced decision-making technology that goes beyond historical data
- Behavioral coordination technology between multiple AI systems
The technology is widely applicable to the following simulation-based designs, such as,
- Optical Design
- Building structural design of bridges and buildings, etc.
- Engine and other fluid structure design
