Industry 4.0

Intro

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) is the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology. Large-scale machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the internet of things (IoT) are integrated for increased automation, improved communication and self-monitoring, and production of smart machines that can analyze and diagnose issues without the need for human intervention.

German strategy

The term “Industrie 4.0”, shortened to I4.0 or simply I4, originated in 2011 from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing. The term “Industrie 4.0” was publicly introduced in the same year at the Hannover Fair. In October 2012, the Working Group on Industry 4.0 presented a set of Industry 4.0 implementation recommendations to the German federal government. The workgroup members and partners are recognized as the founding fathers and driving force behind Industry 4.0. On 8 April 2013 at the Hannover Fair, the final report of the Working Group Industry 4.0 was presented. This working group was headed by Siegfried Dais, of Robert Bosch GmbH, and Henning Kagermann, of the German Academy of Science and Engineering.

As Industry 4.0 principles have been applied by companies they have sometimes been rebranded, for example the aerospace parts manufacturer Meggitt PLC has branded its own Industry 4.0 research project M4.

The discussion of how the shift to Industry 4.0, especially digitization, will affect the labour market is being discussed in Germany under the topic of Work 4.0.

The characteristics given for the German government’s Industry 4.0 strategy are: the strong customization of products under the conditions of highly flexible (mass-) production. The required automation technology is improved by the introduction of methods of self-optimization, self-configuration, self-diagnosis, cognition and intelligent support of workers in their increasingly complex work. The largest project in Industry 4.0 as of July 2013 is the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) leading-edge cluster “Intelligent Technical Systems Ostwestfalen-Lippe (its OWL)”. Another major project is the BMBF project RES-COM, as well as the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries”. In 2015, the European Commission started the international Horizon 2020 research project CREMA (Providing Cloud-based Rapid Elastic Manufacturing based on the XaaS and Cloud model) as a major initiative to foster the Industry 4.0 topic.

Design principles and goals

There are four design principles identified as integral to industry 4.0:

  • Interconnection — the ability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Internet of things, or the internet of people (IoP)
  • Information transparency — the transparency afforded by Industry 4.0 technology provides operators with comprehensive information to inform decisions. Inter-connectivity allows operators to collect immense amounts of data and information from all points in the manufacturing process, identify key areas that can benefit from improvement to increase functionality[
  • Technical assistance — the technological facility of systems to assist humans in decision-making and problem-solving, and the ability to help humans with difficult or unsafe tasks
  • Decentralized decisions — the ability of cyber physical systems to make decisions on their own and to perform their tasks as autonomously as possible. Only in the case of exceptions, interference, or conflicting goals, are tasks delegated to a higher level

Components

The Fourth Industrial Revolution consists of many components when looking closely into our society and current digital trends. To understand how extensive these components are, here are some contributing digital technologies as examples:

  • Mobile devices
  • Internet of things (IoT) platforms
  • Location detection technologies
  • Advanced human-machine interfaces
  • Authentication and fraud detection
  • 3D printing
  • Smart sensors
  • Big analytics and advanced processes
  • Multilevel customer interaction and customer profiling
  • Augmented reality/ wearables
  • On-demand availability of computer system resources
  • Data visualization and triggered “live” training

Mainly these technologies can be summarized into four major components, defining the term “Industry 4.0” or “smart factory”:

  • Cyber-physical systems
  • IoT
  • On-demand availability of computer system resources
  • Cognitive computing

Industry 4.0 networks a wide range of new technologies to create value. Using cyber-physical systems that monitor physical processes, a virtual copy of the physical world can be designed. Characteristics of cyber-physical systems include the ability to make decentralized decisions independently, reaching a high degree of autonomy.

Data

Data and analytics are the core capabilities of each component, driven by:

  • Digitization and integration of vertical and horizontal value chains — Industry 4.0 integrates processes vertically, across the entire organization, including processes in product development, manufacturing, structuring and service; horizontally, Industry 4.0 includes internal operations from suppliers to customers as well as all key value chain partners
  • Digitization of product and services — integrating new methods of data collection and analysis–such as through the expansion of existing products or creation of new digitized products–helps companies to generate data on product use in order to refine products
  • Digital business models and customer access — customer satisfaction is a perpetual, multi-stage process that requires modification in real-time to adapt to the changing needs of consumers

Trends

In essence, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), IoT, industrial internet of things, cloud computing, cognitive computing, and artificial intelligence.

Smart factory

The Fourth Industrial Revolution fosters what has been called a “smart factory”. Within modular structured smart factories, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the internet of things, cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in synchronic time both internally and across organizational services offered and used by participants of the value chain.

Predictive maintenance

Industry 4.0 can also provide predictive maintenance, due to the use of technology and the IoT sensors. Predictive maintenance – which can identify maintenance issues in live – allows machine owners to perform cost-effective maintenance and determine it ahead of time before the machinery fails or gets damaged.  For example, a company in LA could understand if a piece of equipment in Singapore is running at an abnormal speed or temperature. They could then decide whether or not it needs to be repaired.

3D Printing

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is said to have extensive dependency on 3D printing technology.  Some advantages of 3D printing for industry are that 3D printing can print many geometric structures, as well as simplify the product design process. It is also relatively environmentally friendly. In low-volume production, it can also decrease lead times and total production costs. Moreover, it can increase flexibility, reduce warehousing costs and help the company towards the adoption of a mass customization business strategy. In addition, 3D printing can be very useful for printing spare parts and installing it locally, therefore reducing supplier dependence and reducing the supply lead time.

The determining factor is the pace of change. The correlation of the speed of technological development and, as a result, socio-economic and infrastructural transformations with human life allow us to state a qualitative leap in the speed of development, which marks a transition to a new time era.

Smart sensors

Sensors and instrumentation drive the central forces of innovation, not only for Industry 4.0, but also for other “smart ” megatrends, such as smart production, smart mobility, smart homes, smart cities and smart factories.

Smart sensors are devices, which generate the data and allow further functionality from self-monitoring and self-configuration to condition monitoring of complex processes. With the capability of wireless communication, they reduce installation effort to a great extent and help realize a dense array of sensors. 

The importance of sensors, measurement science, and smart evaluation for Industry 4.0 has been recognized and acknowledged by various experts and has already led to the statement “Industry 4.0: nothing goes without sensor systems” 

However, there are few issues, such as time synchronization error, data loss, and dealing with large amounts of harvested data, which all limit the implementation of full-fledged systems. Moreover, additional limits on these functionalities represents the battery power. One example of the integration of smart sensors in the electronic devices, is the case of smart watches, where sensors receive the data from the movement of the user, process the data and as a result, provide the user with the information about his or hers steps made in a day, and additionally, convert them into burned calories.

Scope of application:

Agriculture and food industry:

Smart sensors in these two fields are still in the testing stage.

These innovative connected sensors collect, interpret and communicate the information available in the plots (leaf area, vegetation index, chlorophyll, hygrometry, temperature, water potential, radiation). Based on this scientific data, the objective is to enable real-time monitoring via a smartphone with a range of advice that optimizes plot management in terms of results, time and costs. On the farm, these sensors can be used to detect crop stages and recommend inputs and treatments at the right time. As well as controlling the level of irrigation.

In the food industry: This industry requires more and more security and transparency and full documentation is required. This new technology is used as a tracking system as well as the collection of human data as well as product data.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution marks the beginning of the imagination age.