AUO announced today that its Taichung Fab 3 has been selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for the “Global Lighthouse Network,” reflecting the company’s accomplishments in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). AUO not only boosted its production capacity through smart manufacturing and realized its vision on environmental sustainability but also empowered employees to enable the successful transformation of talent.

“AUO’s inclusion to the WEF Global Lighthouse Network indicated that the Taiwanese manufacturing industry is now on par with the world in Industry 4.0. It also represents a major milestone in how AUO is helping other companies embrace smart manufacturing,” said Paul Peng, AUO Chairman and CEO. “4IR brought about a change in the organizational thinking at AUO. Ultimately, we hope that this will enhance employee empowerment, autonomy, and accountability, and then bring about successful digital and talent transformation.”

4IR Accomplishments Lead to the Inclusion of Global Lighthouse Network　 The “Global Lighthouse Network” is judged by the WEF and is based on smart factories that demonstrate excellence in the application of automation, industrial Internet-of-Things (IIOT), AI, AIoT, digitization, big data analytics and 5G technologies. In total there are 90 sites globally. Improvements to manufacturing efficiency were accompanied by optimization of energy efficiency and minimization of pollution to reduce the impact on the environment.   AUO responded to the intense competition in the industry by launching an organizational transformation drive. The 4IR accomplishments in the three aspects of smart manufacturing, green manufacturing and talent cultivation were all key factors in AUO’s selection as a Global Lighthouse. Production management was changed by embracing of 4IR technology along with the integration of domain knowledge and data science techniques. The shift from responsive management to preventive management became AUO’s greatest advantage. Thanks to investment in the transformation of organizational thinking, Fab 3’s production costs were reduced by 15% while overall productivity went up by more than 30% over a three-year period between 2018 and 2020.   Realizing Smart Manufacturing through AI and Automation Technology Smart manufacturing 2.0 was introduced by AUO in 2015. The shift from scale competition to value competition and then to value transformation helped AUO and its partners make a seamless transition to 4IR and smart manufacturing.   The accomplishments from smart manufacturing based on 4IR technology include automated transportation, automated inspection and repair of products using machine learning and vision, integration of IoT architecture and automatic cleaning solution and development of the AI app integration system. Over a three-year period between 2018 and 2020, these initiatives boosted Fab 3 overall productivity by 32% and the yield from advanced manufacturing by 60%.

AUO Fab 3’s inclusion for “Global Lighthouse Network” showcases accomplishments in the 4IR and commitments to sustainability vision     AUO self-developed Smart Grid power system combines AIoT technologies to improve factory’s power consumption and accelerate smart management     AUO Fab 3’s inclusion for “Global Lighthouse Network” showcases accomplishments in the 4IR and commitments to sustainability vision

Commitment to Green Manufacturing and Sustainability Vision

The AUO Green Solutions was first unveiled in 2008. The fulfillment of the sustainability vision through carbon and waste reduction initiatives helped cut the average energy consumption by at least 1.5% every year. The fab passed US LEED (green building) certification and ISO 5001 certification, and the company also obtained Taiwan's first IPMVP energy performance verification. In 2021, Taichung fab became the first in Taiwan to obtain ISO 46001 water resource efficiency management system certification.

4IR technology has accelerated AUO’s promotion of environmental sustainability. AIoT digitization and data science techniques were leveraged to develop the Smart Grid smart power grid system that helped the Taichung fab successfully cut its water consumption by 23%, carbon emissions by 20% and electricity consumption by 6.4% over the three-year period between 2018 and 2020.

Realizing Employees’ Potential through People-Oriented Talent Transformation

The core of 4IR is people because it is all about talent and its innovation. To this end, AUO focused on employee empowerment, autonomy and accountability. We redefined the role of every employee and cultivated 4IR talent in a systematic manner. Re-skilling was successfully translated into competitiveness.

AUO also empowered employees by turning the experience from each successful project into technical modules that can be followed and stacked. These were efficiently rolled out to every site so that employees were willing to apply 4IR technology on every opportunity and create a positive feedback loop for innovation. This accomplishment was the most outstanding reason for AUO's selection as a Global Lighthouse site.

Converting Experience into Service to Accelerate 4IR Transformation in the Industry

AUO furthermore systematically rolls out 4IR technology to its upstream and downstream partners and forms strategic alliances with AIoT enterprises to build a 4IR software-hardware integration ecosystem together. AUO works with subsidiaries such as AUO Digitech, AUO MegaInsight, AUO Envirotech and Edgetech to provide professional consulting services, total solutions based on the integration of software-hardware solutions, AI systems and domain applications, as well as professional expertise in sustainable production and manufacturing to guide more companies through the 4IR digital transformation process.

* Please click the link below to view AUO smart manufacturing video “A Lighthouse Factory with Sustainability and Smart Technology”: https://youtu.be/dIqk42VsGDk