Narrator: This super-sized sorting distribution hub
Comes with its very own airport.
The secrets of this instantly satisfying
Korean noodle soup are revealed.
Bikes are being transformed to meet the needs
Of city dwellers and commuters alike.
And a digitized facility where high tech
Doesn't have to mean fewer workers.
These groundbreaking innovations are all taking place
Inside some of the most incredible factories
On the planet.
-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
Captions paid for by discovery communications
♪♪
When it comes to transporting cargo by air,
Louisville international airport
Is one of the busiest airports in the country
And the fourth busiest in the world.
So it's no surprise that this facility is also home
To worldport,
The united parcel service's very own air terminal.
Handling more than 300 flights daily,
This supercenter processes 2 million packages a day,
Making it the largest automated sorting hub on the planet.
Inside this 5.4 million square foot home,
Billions of packages are sorted across nearly 155 miles
Of computer-controlled conveyor belts.
Monitored by trained operators,
Packages are sorted through a highly automated process,
Then flown to their destinations all around the world.
I don't know that everybody maybe fully realizes
That ups is also an airline.
Everyone knows us for our drivers
And that great relationship that they have,
But we're also this massive airline as well.
It's just such a unique process.
They come in, they unload,
They're back out, getting those packages around the world.
Narrator: Here at worldport, it takes just 13 minutes
To move a package from an inbound to outbound flight.
Achieving such a fast turnaround is only possible
By using an intense level of automation.
We only want our employees to touch a package
On two occasions -- when they unload it
And place it into the parcel system
And when they loaded on the outbound side,
Placing it in a container.
Narrator: Since it opened in 2002,
Worldport has expanded twice
And is now over 6.8 miles long.
The global parcels market has tripled in size
In the last five years.
It's now worth over $350 billion.
Narrator: Success or failure depends on speed.
To stay ahead of schedule,
Ups utilizes a fleet of 550 aircraft.
These planes don't carry a single passenger,
But they do fly to more destinations
Than any other airline in the world.
It's a far cry from the very first
Trans-american mail service,
The pony express,
Which got its start in April of 1860.
Gough: Couriers rode on horseback
And were able to transport packages
All across the u.S. In just 10 days.
It only lasted 18 months
Because it was superseded by the telegram.
Narrator: But there was still a market
For delivering packages.
In 1907, jim casey borrowed $100
And started a shoestring operation in seattle.
It soon became known as ups, the united parcel service.
Today, the company is based in louisville for a reason.
This centrally situated city is located no more
Than two hours from 75% of the u.S. Population.
And from this hub,
Flights head out to destinations all around the world.
Worldport has the process down to a science.
When flights containing cargo arrive,
The containers are taken off the planes
And loaded onto the cargo holding area.
It may look like these containers are lightweight,
But that's because the floor is covered with embedded rollers.
They allow the package handlers to quickly move
The containers weighing over 2 tons
Throughout the facility with ease.
The containers are then pulled
To one of the 377 unloading stations.
The packages inside need to be quickly sorted,
Moved across the terminal and dispatched to the outbound plane
That is waiting to fly them to their final destinations.
Once on the belt,
The packages begin their journey across the facility.
Packages are placed on one of three conveyor belts,
Depending on the size of the package.
So this box is basically a normal-size box,
So it would go up the main parcel belt.
And then you have these bags here
That are small that would go up this belt over here.
And then these ones here that are a little bit bigger,
We call these the e-rig packages and they go on this belt here
To be processed upstairs because they're so big.
Narrator: The key to identifying the incoming packages
And moving them towards the correct outgoing flight
Is the barcode.
Barcodes are based on the same principle as morse code,
Where you've got a series of dots and dashes
That electronically communicate information,
And then the barcode was born
Because it took those dots and dashes
And turned them into thick and thin lines
And used those thick and thin lines to send that information.
Narrator: Once a package's barcode is scanned
And its destination is identified,
An automated system
Determines the fastest route across the hub.
As packages speed along the conveyor belts,
Cameras scan their barcodes to keep them on the right track.
The technology, the smart labels are really key
To feeding in the brain of ups,
Which is the control center that's tracking the volume flow,
It's tracking the packages,
And that's what those camera tunnels are doing
Every time they scan that package,
They're making sure that it's going to where it needs to go.
Narrator: When they read the barcode,
Special automated sorters called pucks
Integrated into the belt system
Send the parcels in the right direction and to the next belt.
If there's any problem,
Controllers can remotely move the pucks
To get the parcel exactly where it needs to be.
Schaefer: If there's any issues,
They can adjust that on the fly.
Point and click.
So the next time that package hits a camera read,
It's been fixed.
It picks up a good read on the label
To keep all the flow moving.
Narrator: The parcels that were loaded on to the belt
Approach the dispatch point for their outbound flights.
Now, the pucks knock the parcels
Into the airside cargo loading bay.
♪♪
Although this factory is highly automated,
It's remarkable just how many handlers are still needed
To keep these packages moving.
10,000 people work here.
It's mostly the small packages that need the human touch.
Package handlers direct individual items
Onto a conveyor belt using a tilt tray system.
There are 17,220 trays.
Each carries only one package at a time.
But the label must be face up.
The reason why it's important for the labels
To be up on the tilt tray is because
Once that person touches it and puts it there,
At that point,
It's not gonna be seen by a human being again.
It's gonna go through scan tunnels,
Directing it where it needs to go based off the information
On that very simple-looking smart label.
Narrator: The tilt trays are crucial because they present
The many and varied shapes of the small packages
To the scanner in a uniform way.
But if the camera system can't read the label,
An image of it is sent to a monitoring station.
Sometimes a shipper will have a bad printer.
And when they print their label out, there will be a line.
There'll be something wrong with the barcode.
So when it gets to us, it's not reading correctly.
Narrator: As soon as the image appears,
The monitoring team has just 10 seconds
To identify the zip code on the label
And manually redirect the package
To the appropriate loading area.
If neither the scanner nor the monitoring team
Can identify the label,
The rogue package must be tracked down and inspected.
From the first belt until this point,
A package would have traveled through the facility
For less than 15 minutes.
Once the package reaches its destination,
A computer signals the tilt tray
To eject the package into a canvas bag.
The packages have finally made it to airside,
But there's one more step
Before they're ready for their outbound flights.
At outbound, workers load and stack packages
In the cargo containers.
This step can only be done by humans.
The smaller boxes like this, I put around the bigger boxes
To make sure that it fills in the spaces
And I have to build up from the back wall
And then the sides and then fill outward.
Narrator: After a final visual inspection,
Handlers transport the loaded containers
Into the cargo hold of the plane.
When in position inside the aircraft,
Containers lock into place
To avoid moving around in flight.
Within minutes, this flight will be airbound.
From unloading to reloading,
The entire sorting process takes, at most, 45 minutes.
Even though most of the sorting is performed automatically,
Package handlers are a crucial part of the process.
On a normal day, this facility sorts 2 million packages.
During the holidays, the teams here go into overdrive,
Sorting as many as 4 million packages a day.
The workforce at worldport is dedicated to ensuring packages
Are delivered to their destinations on time.
And it's their ability to mix manpower with modernity
That makes this factory a super factory.
Coming up, a culinary explosion in korea.
Their invention was actually a breakthrough in food science.
Narrator: And later,
In the highly competitive international bicycle market,
One unique set of wheels stands out from the rest.
It's instantly recognizable, a design icon.
♪♪
Narrator: Mankind has accomplished
Many remarkable things during the course of history --
Space exploration,
The jet engine,
The automobile,
The grand piano.
But this surprising culinary staple may just rank
Among man's greatest achievements.
The world has an undeniable hunger
For instant noodles.
Outside of asia,
The u.S. Is the largest consumer of instant noodles.
In 2018, 280 million servings
Were consumed worldwide every single day.
But the country with the world's most voracious appetite
For noodles is south korea.
Over 51 million people live in this country
And each person consumes at least
One and a half servings every week.
And this massive factory in gumi,
124 miles south of the capital, seoul,
Is working hard to keep up with demand.
The plant, owned by the nongshim corporation,
Pumps out a staggering 5 million packs
Of instant noodles every week.
But these aren't your average noodles.
Noodles are made from wheat flour.
And like pasta or spaghetti,
They'll keep for months or for years.
Now, the difference between an instant noodle
And an ordinary noodle is that instant noodle
Has gone through a series of processes in the factory,
Which means it will be ready to eat
Just by adding boiling water.
There's no need to cook it.
Narrator: At this super factory,
The workforce has noodle-making down to a science.
The main raw ingredient -- flour -- arrives in tankers.
This plant goes through millions of tons of flour every year.
It's pumped into the factory at high speed
Through a network of pipes.
The flour is mixed with warm water
And then salt is added.
This creates a noodle dough, which is kneaded for 15 minutes.
Kneading is an essential part of making any dough.
It's the process by which gluten is developed inside the mix,
And gluten is that material
That gives elasticity to a dough.
And that will help you make noodles that can be very thin
And very long and have a good sort of bite to them.
♪♪
Narrator: The kneaded dough is rolled into a layer
Less than a half an inch thick.
It then passes through four different roller systems.
Each successive roller
Gradually makes the dough thinner and thinner
Until it's just one millimeter thick.
Instant noodles are one of those things
We just take for granted now.
But their invention was actually a breakthrough in food science.
Narrator: In fact, it was nothing short
Of a culinary revolution.
Gough: It's an amazing phenomenon.
The method for making instant noodles
Was actually invented in japan in 1958.
20 years ago, a major research institute asked
Japanese citizens
To list their country's greatest inventions.
They didn't vote for personal stereos or computer games.
No, their number-one choice was instant noodles.
Narrator: At this stage, the dough is just a big, flat sheet.
So now it's time to start making it into a noodle shape.
To do that, the dough goes through a slitter machine.
Here, a blade slits that big, thin sheet into long strips.
What emerges is a wavy-looking tangle.
Russell: The chemistry behind them
Is not as simple as it looks.
That characteristic wavy shape is no accident.
It helps prevent the noodles from sticking together.
And also because it creates more surface area,
It means when you add boiling water,
The noodles reconstitute and soften more quickly.
Narrator: After stretching,
The strands of noodles with about 43% moisture
Are conveyed through a steam tunnel.
Inside, the noodles are steamed at a temperature
Of approximately 212 degrees for 1 to 3 minutes.
Steam power is used instead of gas
For more precise temperature control.
The steaming process starts a critical chemical reaction.
When the noodle is cooked, the starch inside
Actually starts to break down,
It goes through a process of gelatinization.
Well, gelatinization is basically
When the starch molecules start to bond with each other
And change and become jellylike.
And actually, that's what gives the noodle its desired texture.
Narrator: From the steamer,
The noodles move down the belt into a dipping bath,
Where they're seasoned,
But the noodles aren't ready to eat yet.
Before they're ready to be packaged,
They must go through an essential process
To withstand the tests of time.
Narrator: For over 50 years,
Nongshim has pioneered culinary culture in south korea
By combining modern technology and science
With authentic korean cuisine.
One of their most popular products, instant noodle soup,
Has propelled the company to the top of the industry.
Nongshim is currently the largest instant noodles
And snack company in south korea.
Asia is still the biggest market for instant noodles.
10 of the top 15 countries
That consume instant noodles are asian,
But the biggest non-asian country is the united states,
Where 4 1/2 billion portions of instant noodles
Were eaten in 2018 alone.
So why did they catch on in korea in such a big way?
They took off in the early 1960s when the country
Was still recovering from war on the peninsula.
Food was pretty scarce, but so was fuel for cooking.
So instant noodles, which you can prepare
In just a few minutes weren't looked at as a convenience.
They were an absolute necessity.
Narrator: Noodles are associated with the east,
But many experts agree they have a western cousin.
Noodles and pasta are essentially the same thing.
There's a legend that marco polo brought back the secret
To europe after his travels in china,
But that's not true.
It's much more likely that pasta was developed in sicily
Around 1,000 years ago.
Narrator: The history of instant noodles dates back to 1958.
The inventor, momofuku ando,
Perfected the craft after a year of research
Using common tools in a shed he built in his own backyard.
Today, thanks to ando's creativity,
The secret to this company's success
Can be found inside their factories
Using the same techniques that ando created over 60 years ago.
Back on the assembly line,
The noodles are chopped into roughly 16- to 28-inch portions.
Each one is dropped into a metal bowl,
Which acts as a circular mold.
Once they're in the molds,
The noodles are fried in 239-degree oil
For exactly 72 seconds.
[ speaking korean ]
Russell: You might think, "why fry them?"
Well, frying them actually takes down
The moisture content to about 5%.
Narrator: Most instant noodles are dehydrated,
Either by oil-frying or air-drying.
These noodles are fried in oil.
Reducing the water content
Is absolutely crucial for the next step --
Dehydration.
Dehydrating is a key part of preserving the noodles.
The dried noodles could sit in their packets for months
Before they're prepared.
Any excess water would reduce their shelf life.
After the noodles have been fried and dehydrated,
They're cooled.
The cooling process is followed
By a series of careful inspections for weight, shape,
Color, frying condition, and temperature.
Products are automatically eliminated
From the assembly line if a metal material is detected
Or their weight is out of the preset range.
Finally, the noodles are packed into film bags.
Finished products are automatically
Put into cardboard cases.
Now the only thing left to do
Is to ship them out to the consumer.
This factory outputs 700,000 packets
Of instant noodles every day.
Today, nongshim's instant noodles
Have come to define korean ramen cuisine.
Since its creation,
More than 22 billion bags have been sold.
Globally, korea is among the largest consumers
Of instant ramen,
Consuming 80 bags per person annually.
That's about one bag every five days.
And thanks to this super factory,
Demand is still on the rise.
Coming up, the transformer of the bike world.
This bike is actually made up of 1,200 parts.
Narrator: And later, a small family-run business is moving
Into a technological, brave new world.
They were nominated as part of a global network
Of so-called manufacturing lighthouses.
♪♪
Narrator: In london, England,
A quirky-looking device with a unique selling point
Is being assembled using techniques
That aren't found in any other factories.
This is a brompton,
The transformer of the bike world.
This bike is actually made up
Of 1,200 parts.
Narrator: Bromptons are the ultimate purpose-built tool
For commuting in an urban environment.
This tiny-wheeled, unconventional-looking bike
Has one of the most enthusiastic followings
In the cycling industry.
Demand for these bikes is growing so fast
That brompton's 86,000-square-foot london site
Is now britain's newest and biggest bicycle factory.
Inside this super factory,
Over 1,000 folding bikes are made by hand each week.
With a growing following in asia and north america,
This super factory is on track to produce 100,000 bikes a year.
Brompton is really an amazing industrial "phoenix
Rising from the ashes" kind of story.
In the 1970s, due to the import of low-cost asian bikes,
The british bicycle industry pretty much crashed and burned.
Narrator: British manufacturers simply couldn't compete on cost.
The only option was to think outside of the box.
So to fight back, they had to come up with something new,
Something different, something eye-catching
And maybe something that people didn't even know they wanted.
The brompton ticks all of those boxes.
And ironically, this u.K. Firm
Is now exporting large numbers of bikes to asia.
Narrator: The invention of the brompton bike
Was first conceived by cambridge university engineering graduate
Andrew ritchie.
Ritchie's obsession with bikes began in 1975
When he came across a unique bike model
And thought he could improve upon it.
He eventually designed a bike that was surprisingly light,
Small enough to fit in an apartment,
Easier to manufacture
And completely customizable for the consumer.
Over the next four years,
Ritchie carved out a niche market
For enthusiasts for the folding bike.
And in 1979, he patented his design,
Which is still the template for all brompton bikes today.
The inventor, andrew, and one other guy,
Patty, started making bikes.
It took them 2 years to make 400 bikes.
We're currently making 300 bikes a day.
Narrator: Inside this factory, a highly skilled team of workers
Are reviving traditional metal-working methods
Rarely seen in modern factories.
The process starts with steel tubes
That will soon be machined together into a frame
Using a joining technique called brazing.
Brazing is a lost art.
It's the ability to bond two materials together,
But at a low temperature.
The bond is stronger because you get less shrinkage
Of the bonding material.
Narrator: Each bike is hand-brazed.
This process is similar to welding
But uses lower temperatures and doesn't melt the metal
That is being joined together.
Summer: You have to learn temperatures.
You have to learn how the components join together
Because you want a bike that lasts years and years.
It's your responsibility to keep people safe,
So it's important to have a really, really strong braze.
Narrator: Once the frame is put together,
It's ready to be painted.
For the first 20 years after launching on the market,
These bikes only came in either red or black.
Today, bromptons are available
In a huge range of color combinations,
And the paint they use is special
Because it's not wet.
Brompton uses a dry coating process
Called electrostatic painting.
Fundamentally, it uses static charge,
Which is what you'd get
If you had a balloon and rubbed it on your jumper
And then held it to your head.
And that would cause your hairs to rise up
And be attracted to the balloon.
But in this case, the frame has that charge.
And when you spray the powdered paint,
It adheres to the surface in a very even, uniform way.
Narrator: The bike components are then heated in an oven.
Effectively, the powder melts, it bonds,
And it creates a very, very robust layer.
Powder coating is really important
To the longevity of our bike.
Narrator: Brompton bikes don't come cheap.
They can cost anywhere between $1,000 and nearly $4,000,
Depending on the specs and customization.
Bikes are a huge and growing business worldwide,
With sales around $50 billion.
Narrator: This year, around 150 million new bikes
Will be sold,
Roughly two bikes for every car sold in the world.
Regardless of the high price tag,
Cycling enthusiasts are willing to shell out the cash
Because of the countless variations to choose from.
Be it for an off-road, on-road, mountain bike,
Small wheels or larger tires,
Even the frame -- carbon, steel, aluminum.
The list goes on and on.
Narrator: In its basic steel and aluminum configuration,
This bike weighs almost 28 pounds.
But the most expensive models shed some of that weight
By substituting titanium for steel.
The great thing about titanium is that it's half the density,
But about the same strength as steel.
Narrator: Although most of the work in this factory is done by hand,
This specialized piece of equipment
Performs a vital function.
The wheels are 13.7 inches.
The 28 spokes which support the rim must be tightened
To exactly the right degree of tension.
This used to be done by hand, and now what we have is a robot
That is checking each of those spokes,
Checking the spoke tension, adjusting the wheel,
Measuring the alignment, vertical and horizontal,
Until we get a perfectly aligned wheel.
Narrator: The final assembly
Is meticulously completed, all by hand.
In just one day, this factory can produce up to 300 bikes,
Each made based on the desires of the consumer.
From the frame materials to the component options,
Paint colors and accessories,
There are more than 16 million ways to customize a brompton.
Although there are regular upgrades,
Brompton continues to use the same basic design
Developed more than 40 years ago.
What brompton has done is decide they'll only make one product,
But they'll make it superbly well year after year.
And because there's only one model, or one shape essentially,
It's instantly recognizable, a design icon.
And that profile is extremely invaluable,
Especially when you're trying to build a premium brand.
Narrator: To the average cyclist,
The brompton might seem small and unusual,
But what makes it special is how different it is.
Designed to mesh with other modes of transportation,
This ingenious bike is proving to be the surprising solution
To living in a crowded city.
Coming up, a small electrical components plant
On the edge of milan is internationally recognized
As one of the world's most advanced manufacturing sites.
This is the digital revolution.
♪♪
Narrator: A strong wind of disruption
Is blowing through global manufacturing.
It's the fourth industrial revolution,
Also known as industry 4.0.
The first industrial revolution used water and steam
To mechanize production.
The second used electric power to create mass production.
The third used electronics and information technology
To automate production.
Now a fourth industrial revolution is building
On the third.
This is the digital revolution.
Narrator: The fourth industrial revolution
Is quickly becoming indispensable to modern life.
And as a result, it's paving the way
For transformative changes in the way we live
And radically disrupting almost every business sector.
The world economic forum, a powerful industry think tank,
Has nominated 16 companies as global leaders
In industry 4.0 technology.
So among the really big names that you might expect to see,
Such as procter & gamble, siemens, and bmw,
There's one unlikely company on the list.
Narrator: This is rold,
A milan-based electronic component manufacturer
That employs just under 250 people.
Founded in 1963,
Rold has carved itself out a lucrative niche
As one of europe's largest producer
Of door locks for washing machines.
And the secret to this company's success
Is how rold makes their products.
People are taking notice of this smallish company
Because recently they were nominated
As part of a global network
Of so-called manufacturing lighthouses.
The members have successfully adopted 4.0 technologies
And have opened their doors to share their knowledge
With other businesses.
Narrator: Leading this small family-run business
Into a technological brave new world,
Is c.E.O. Laura rochitelli.
Today, the facility is manufacturing a lock component.
The production process starts
In rold's raw-materials warehouse.
From the materials' warehouse, the polymer pellets
Are transported through a series of pipes to the molding room.
Machines here produce the plastic components
Of the locking units.
Polymer is pumped into the machine as raw pellets...
...And comes out as molded plastic casings
Through a process called injection molding.
Injection molding is essentially a process
Of making objects by heating up a material,
Squirting it into the cavity of a mold,
That object then solidifying inside that mold
And then opening up and you have your thing.
But that material, that could be all sorts of things --
Glass, plastic, metal --
Anything that could be melted down.
Even cakes can be injection-molded.
Narrator: Every single machine in this factory
Is connected to a digital network
That tracks every aspect of product performance.
Digital data enables operators
To monitor production performance
Of individual machines in real time.
The system is constantly troubleshooting,
Spotting any potential problems
Before they can affect production.
And it's not just the machines
That are digitally connected in this super factory.
This level of digitization
Can have a profound effect on efficiency.
Narrator: For over 50 years, rold has applied innovation
And quality research to manufacture appliances
That have impacted our everyday way of life.
The first rold door locks date back to the 1970s
When the company was among the first manufacturers
Offering a door-locking system that was soon to be required
On all washing machines.
Today, just like this component, rold has evolved,
Enhancing their appliances in our new digitized world.
Back on the assembly line,
Real-time data coming from the production process
Can be accessed either in the plant or remotely.
If something breaks or slows down,
Engineers are updated instantly via smart device.
Even though the new technology
Tracks every second of each machine's output,
Plastic components are frequently quality-checked
Using the same digital system.
The system identifies a component,
Uploads the design blueprint and automatically checks
The part for quality against the digital tech spec.
While the plastic components are produced
By injection molding,
The metal fixings are made by press punching.
The output of the metal components' presses
Is constantly monitored digitally by the workforce.
If there's any issue threatening output,
The team can instantly identify
And solve the problem immediately.
This level of digitization can have a profound effect
On the efficiency and day-to-day running of companies like rold.
Knowing exactly what's happening at any points in the enterprise
Has a huge transformative effect on efficiency
And company productivity.
Narrator: Now the plastic and metal components come together
For final assembly.
These machines can produce
2,000 door-lock components an hour.
Each item is given its own unique I.D.
And can be instantly tracked, logged, and checked
Before they're dispatched.
Down on the factory floor,
The finished units are put into a machine for inspection.
In manufacturing terms, rold is what's known as an sme,
A small or medium enterprise.
What they've done proves that 4.0 technologies aren't just
The preserve of rich, huge, wealthy corporations.
They've basically taken
Off-the-shelf software and hardware,
Collaborated with universities and tech providers
To create a system that works for them.
And to get it all started, they hired three programmers.
Rold clearly demonstrates the opportunities offered
By this new industrial revolution,
And it also proves you can be a small company
But still make the grade as a super factory.