Industry 4.0 in Manufacturing

The digital disruption in the manufacturing sector is not new. The industry has always been at the forefront of innovation using legacy manufacturing solutions to Industry 4.0 technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, IoT and others. This has led manufacturing businesses to a new industrial revolution. Manufacturers who want to realize the real potential of this industrial revolution must industrialize their data that can help make that data a core asset to deliver better products and customer service. This also helps navigate complex business environments and bring a never-before-expected future.

Industry 4.0 will enable organizations to harness the power of IoT, big data and analytics, augmented reality, cybersecurity, collaborative robots, cloud computing, 3D, and more recently evolved 5G networks, among others. This industrial revolution is based on the creation of an integrative and collaborative environment, intends to supplements cyber-physical systems and considers customers as part of the production process.

As the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is perceived as the future of smart manufacturing where machines will connect and contact with each other without human intervention. This facilitates fundamental advancements to the industrial processes involved in manufacturing, engineering, material usage, asset performance and management, and supply chain and lifecycle management.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is another technology in the new age of industrial revolution where a large number of devices or machines are connected and synchronized with software tools and third platform technologies in a machine-to-machine and IoT context. In an Oxford Economics research, this technology applies to industries that account for 62 percent of the G20’s GDP. Thus, it is clearly showing a seismic shift in the industrial sector in the coming years as the adoption of IIoT grows. According to Gartner, there will be 20.8 billion devices connected to IIoT by 2020, which were 6.4 billion in 2016.

Technologies that will Drive Industry 4.0 

Already, scenarios like machines that can autonomously sense when they need spare parts; production systems that can run their own quality control during operation and reduce inspection outlays; and autonomous systems or robots that can autonomously identify and move components are becoming prevailing norms on the manufacturing floor.

Along with these, the rapid expansion of data landscape, connectivity, and customers are driving Industry 4.0 faster. Data availability will enable future technologies to function smarter and more efficiently. Thanks to the digital transformation of industrial processes, there is an abundance of data which is leading to big data trends. Big Data helps in collecting, storing and processing data that gives businesses to gain efficiency by delivering data-driven decisions.

Moreover, the continuous growth of automation and data technologies powered by the internet of things, cloud computing, advanced computers, robotics, and people are powering the next revolution in Industry 4.0.