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Automated processes and self-steering factories are the future. But is it possible to create one using today's existing infrastructure?
25 Nov 2016Share
In theory it sounds great: fully networked production capable of detecting problems before they even arise. Self-learning processes, managed by computers. Downtimes approaching zero. Personalized products from batch size 1. The concept of the Smart Factory promises all that and more.
The reality is not quite so advanced. According to a study by the consulting firm Staufen, which surveyed roughly 180 German industrial firms, the topics of Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory are clearly on boardroom agendas. Yet only roughly 40 percent of the study respondents indicated that they are actually undertaking concrete measures. Almost half admitted to not yet having pursued the topic, or to currently being in the "Observe and Analyze" phase. Just seven percent
Approach the topic with a plan
Thomas Rohrbach, Senior Partner at Staufen,
What's undisputed is that machine automation will have a high priority in the future. Companies hoping to remain competitive will have to face up to the challenges of digitalization.
"We're talking constantly about the Internet of Things, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, robotics and smart factories and man/machine communications. What we're forgetting in the process: Many of those technologies have already been around for 20 years. We're better off talking about how the existing ones can finally be networked right,"
Revised thinking needed
This applies both for the interplay between manufacturing execution systems and the oversight level as well as between management and provision of data from the cloud. Industry 4.0 demands that companies revise their thinking: The factory of the future is a complex network in which the individual units communicate with one another without hierarchical classifications. It should be clear to all that this may be partially or completely impossible without a revision to the infrastructure.
A study entitled "
In the future, everything will be networked: suppliers, producers and customers. The question is thus not whether industry will take up digital possibilities, but rather how efficiently it will tap into them. For now it relies on a strong network between machine builders, electrical engineers and IT. The exhibitions on Digital Factory and Industrial Automation at HANNOVER MESSE will give visitors answers to the most urgent questions.
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