Novel virtual manufacturing system

Driving cost competitiveness, value differentiation and market focus

Challenge

Today’s manufacturing is defined by speed, quality, flexibility – and customisation. SleepCorp has currently over 50 variations within its mattress protection, pads, pillows and bed product range. This high degree of variations requires SleepCorp to set up and manually manage several complex operations of their manufacturing process to meet their customers demand.

Proposed Solution

In collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, SleepCorp aims to set up a novel Virtual Manufacturing System (VMS) that connects robotics-based machinery to a digital twin allowing for a faster and more flexible manufacturing approach to address changing customer requirements while maintaining cost competitiveness for its mattress protectors and biomedical products.

Over the course of two years researchers will connect and integrate all manufacturing operations ranging from tailoring, cutting, sewing to packaging in one VMS application which then will be linked to SleepCorp’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Data Analysis/Analytics to provide enhanced visibility across the manufacturing value chain.

The outcomes will be a model system for an adaptable industry 4.0 enabled production line that may seamlessly, and efficiency change between many variations in products and accommodate mass customisation to deliver the right product at the right time to the right quality that the customer expects.