Threshold Innovation for Regional SMEs Building Toward Industry 4.0: Process Optimization and Technological Advancement for Post-Pandemic Recovery

Camosun College为维多利亚、温哥华岛和不列颠哥伦比亚省的学生、社区和企业提供服务。 根据加拿大制造商和出口商的数据，“加拿大在制造业的技术采用和创新方面排名都很低”，在与大都市地区没有联系的小型跨部门企业中尤其如此。许多当地中小企业在提高生产力、优化流程、技术进步和创新潜力方面落后，因此本项目重点关注处于变革门槛的公司，这些公司在疫情后的经济中表现出持续性并准备创新。Camosun的项目涉及九家当地中小企业，并以工艺优化和技术进步为中心，主要涉及化学改性、数字模拟、材料集成以及机电一体化和自动化领域。化学改性的重点是操纵化学性质，以改善食品和饮料生产中的味道。数字仿真以数字孪生（DT）和离散事件仿真（DES）为中心，以解决效率和流程分析问题。材料集成包括广泛的选择，包括3D打印和复合材料制造，用于产品重新设计和原型制作。机电一体化和自动化将专注于制造业，使用标准化方法提供有用的具有成本效益的解决方案，以确定工艺要求，评估安全因素，评估风险，并提供利用常用硬件，电子产品和开源控制系统的选项。这四个研究流联合收割机通过小规模工艺优化影响从水产养殖和啤酒厂到电动汽车和海上运输，再到文化和遗产部门的各种合作伙伴，影响从工业3.0到工业4.0的中小企业先进制造。该项目的核心是致力于培训学生和员工，不仅扩大了高素质人员的数量，而且建立了理解的基础，一个地方和区域学习平台，为中小企业建立技术上更先进的方法来支持其业务。流程优化是训练企业以不同方式思考的一种方式;阈值创新是I4.0早期阶段的本土制造商在最近的全球大流行之后学习如何可持续和规模增长的一种方式。

Camosun College serves students, communities, and businesses of Victoria, Vancouver Island, and British Columbia. According to the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, "Canada ranks poorly in both technology adoption and innovation in manufacturing," and this is especially true in smaller cross-sector businesses not connected to large metropolitan areas. Many local SMEs lag in productivity enhancement, process optimization, technology advancement, and innovation potential, so this project focuses on companies at the threshold of change, demonstrating persistence and poised to innovate in a post-pandemic economy. Camosun's project involves nine local SMEs and centres on process optimization and technological advancement, primarily in the areas of chemical modification, digital simulation, materials integration, and mechatronics & automation. Chemical modification focuses on the manipulation of chemical properties to improve taste in food and beverage production. Digital simulation centres on digital twinning (DT) and discrete event simulation (DES) to address efficiency and process analysis. Materials integration encompasses a broad range of options including 3D printing and composite fabrication for product redesign and prototyping. Mechatronics and automation will focus on the manufacturing sector to provide useful cost-effective solutions using standardized approaches to identify process requirements, assess safety considerations, evaluate risks, and provide options that utilize commonly available hardware, electronics, and open-source control systems. These four research streams combine to influence advanced manufacturing for SMEs moving from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 through small-scale process optimization impacting a wide variety of partners ranging from aquaculture and breweries, to electric vehicles and marine transportation, to the culture and the heritage sectors. Central to this project is a dedication to the training of students and employees, not only expanding the number of highly qualified personnel, but building a foundation of understanding, a local and regional learning platform that scaffolds SMEs as they build a more technologically advanced approach to the processes that underpin their businesses. Process optimization is a way of training businesses to think differently; threshold innovation is a way for local manufacturers in the early stages of I4.0 to learn how to grow sustainably and at scale after the recent global pandemic.