Samsung SDS is hitting the accelerator on capabilities including R&D, investments and alliances with global companies to strengthen its business presence on the global stage. 

The company now supplies such solutions as “Brightics” a data analysis solution, “Insator” an IoT platform and “Cello” a logistics platform, in Korea and abroad. 

In particular, the Manufacturing Execution System (Samsung Nexplant MES), developed by Samsung SDS based on Brightics has been introduced to Samsung Electronics and its related subsidiaries of Samsung Group. It performs such tasks as top-level quality analyses, detection of faults and equipment analyses. 

Brightics is combined with Cello to provide predictions to minimize damages in the case of an emergency. Insator is an open-source IoT real-time operating system for the development of solutions based on data collection and analysis. It offers API development environment and management functions to be made available on mobile apps. 

Samsung SDS is also striving to strengthen its global solution competitiveness by introducing the Saas (Software as a service) platform based on the integrated logistic platform, Cello. 

On top of the developing of solutions, Samsung SDS has invested Blocko, a Korean blockchain company, and Darktrace, a British cyber security solution company. The company has launched an offensive by investing and forging alliances to spearhead an advantage in such future industries as cloud computing, security and big data. A Samsung SDS official said, “We plan to continue investments and the forming of alliances with a focus on IoT, big data and cloud sectors to explore future growth engines.”

Samsung SDS’s Nexplant an AI-Based Smart Factory Solution

Samsung SDS has launched Nexplant, an artificial intelligence-based smart factory solution. Nexplant is a smart factory solution made by utilizing the company’s experience and expertise at the plants of Samsung’s affiliated companies, including Samsung Electronics, and the manufacturing sites of many other companies based in Korea.

The most distinctive feature of the Nexplant solution is that it collects and analyzes sensor data from manufacturing equipment through IoT (Internet of Things) by applying artificial intelligence to the manufacturing process, promptly detecting and controlling the anomalies, thereby maximizes production efficiency.

The solution features Brightics, the big data analytics platform developed by Samsung SDS, which dramatically reduces the time it takes to identify and solve problems arising from manufacturing processes from up to 12 hours to less than 10 minutes.

In effect, when a problem arose from an ordinary manufacturing process, it took up to 12 hours for the existing system to extract data from a database, send it to an analyst, relay the results to the manager and try to identify the cause of the problem.

However, the application of the recently launched Nexplant helps to automatically detect the key factors that induced equipment faults and defects in products through machine learning-based analytics, ultimately reducing the time to below 10 minutes.

In other words, Nexplant uses artificial intelligence to automatically and easily identify factors that cause defects and suggest priorities for solving problems, and is thus capable of helping engineers take action against any problem arising from the equipment. Nexplant is also lighter in weight, enabling its deployment at small- and medium-sized plants, as well as large ones.

To easily realize a smart factory, the Nexplant solution can be deployed at plants in various industries, including domestic and international steelmaking, automobiles, electricity, electronics, textiles and biotech.

Nexplant is essentially a “Total solution” for smart factory applications, capable of the integrated management of an entire manufacturing process, from product design to production, and from quality control to operation support.

This solution is made up of Smart Design, which uses analytics to support a robust design system from the beginning of product development; Smart Collaboration, which promotes collaboration across all areas of manufacturing; Smart Engineering, which supports optimization in improving equipment efficiency and product quality; and Smart Operation, which enables optimized management of all production activities and unmanned automation of production sites.

“We held a demonstration of the solution abroad before its launch, and manufacturers from the U.S., India, and other countries showed great interest.” said Lee Jae-cheol, Senior Vice President of smart factory business at Samsung SDS. “We will work even harder to globally expand our business.”