The Global Container Refrigeration facility of Carrier Transicold in Singapore, a key manufacturing site for Carrier's refrigerated container systems globally, is embracing Industry 5.0, which refers to people working together with intelligent robots and machines for more personalized, sustainable and resilient operations.

In 2019, the Carrier Transicold Global Container Refrigeration facility launched a five-year automation roadmap to set the vision for its transformation strategy and kickstart the technology infrastructure needed for automation.

In 2021, the factory welcomed cobot, its first collaborative robot. The cobot, which works with employees in small spaces to help secure access doors to refrigeration units, allows workers to focus on other critical, higher-value manufacturing operations. In its first year of life, the cobot completed its scheduled task approximately 900,000 times.

Many are the benefits of automation and digital transformation, which include:

• 10% increase in production capacity;
• 3% increase in standard automated production hours;
• Digital First-Pass-Yield to optimize test yield for overall factory quality performance, providing real-time feedback for faster response;
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to optimize inventory tracking, reduce human errors and increase operational efficiency.

The cobots have contributed over 8,000 hours of productivity to the factory annually. Further automations or digitizations are in development and are expected to be launched next year.