Since the concept of Industry 4.0 came to effect, manufacturers are deploying disruptive technologies to obtain improvement.

Technology is a never-ending field, constantly mixing in new iterations and innovations to create exciting opportunities. As more futuristic technologies start to pervade all areas of our lives, we are increasingly deploying their applications in the manufacturing sector. Ever since the concept of Industry 4.0 came to effect, manufacturers are looking for commercially available, interconnected systems that can be used in the factories. Sophisticated technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things and 3D printing are among the frontrunners shaping the future of manufacturing by lowering the cost of production, improving the speed of operations, and minimising errors. Besides, innovators and engineers are constantly improving upon existing technologies to fulfil unmet needs, provide foods for untapped markets and most importantly, looking forward to stay ahead of the competition. Henceforth, Industry Wired has listed the big five technologies making a change in manufacturing.

Cloud computing on marketing campaigns

Cloud computing uses internet connection for remote services to manage and process data. It makes data more critical for business purposes, especially, marketing. This technology has an increasingly stable ground in manufacturing business operations and production processes. A study suggests that in 2017, around 25% of finished product inputs were made using some type of digital technology such as cloud computing. One of the major advantages that cloud computing leverages for the manufacturing sector is that unlike traditional technology that uses individual computers to have updated software for information processing, it offers automatic updating processes. Cloud computing is seen as the core content of marketing campaigns. Manufacturers avail cloud-based applications to aid in planning, executing and managing marketing campaigns. 

Big data analytics on predictive maintenance

It is well known that manufacturing houses generate a vast amount of data through their system. But the question is ‘Are they using it properly?’ With the emerging technological trends and business leaders becoming familiar with analytics use cases, the manufacturing houses see big data as a very useful asset. Especially, industries are filled with highly-expensive machinery. There are times when the machines break down or stop functioning due to failures in the inner mechanism. Big data analytics can help manufacturers to gain transparency on the real-time condition of machines. They can even flag an alarm when the equipment is in bad condition, keeping away calamities.

Augmented Reality on production downtime

Augmented Reality (AR) devices used in manufacturing makes employee movement more natural and seamless. The technology comes with a lot of advantages like measuring a variety of changes, identifying unsafe working conditions, or even envisioning a finished product in the manufacturing base. Particularly, it addresses the production downtime issue. One of the major challenges the industry faces is production downtime. It can cost a fortune for the organisation according to the downtime scale. By using AR apps on the mobile device, manufacturing is visually connected to find the problem on the shop flow and resolve it there and then.

Machine learning on quality control

Machine learning takes credit for making the biggest shift in the manufacturing industry towards technology. The proven impact of machine learning models has pushed more investment towards their development. Even when advanced manufacturing techniques are implemented, still minor errors are common in the factory base. But customers won’t take the manufacturing errors simple. Henceforth, manufacturers are employing machine learning technology to allow algorithms to visually inspect products and identify flaws more quickly.

Edge computing on remote monitoring

The manufacturing industry has been touted as one of the early adopters of edge computing with many potential use cases. Edge computing fits in the wider context of making manufacturing more flexible and cost-effective by allowing manufacturers to use standard hardware and software to be able to access and share relevant data to their manufacturing processes. The technology is vital for offshore oil industries as they utilize edge computing architecture to gather, monitor and process data on a variety of environmental factors without having to depend upon a distant data centre infrastructure.