What is Industry 4.0?
What does this mean for your business?
Industry 4.0
Smart Industry or Industry 4.0 is the collective name for all methods and developments specific to the fourth industrial revolution. For example:
- Industrial automation
- data exchange in industrial manufacturing techniques
- autonomous production systems
- new technologies that facilitate work processes, such as:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Machine Learning (ML)
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Cloud Computing
- Systems that can partially or completely take over our thinking process (Cognitive Computing)
Society 5.0: Your customers expect more
Every industrial revolution is accompanied by a social revolution.
This social revolution led to Society 5.0. This means that from now on your customers:
- Expect even more from service providers and suppliers.
- Request faster and better service.
- Want a more personal way of working.
How do you respond to those higher demands without sacrificing the profit margin? And how do you stay one step ahead of your competitors at the same time?
Transform your factory into a Smart Factory.
- Get a better real-time insight into what is happening in your factory.
- Optimize your processes faster.
- Shorten your lead times so that your production and work is more efficient.
Smart Factory
2 types of integrations
Horizontal integration
YOU DIGITALIZE ORDER PROCESSES SUCH AS REQUESTS, QUOTATIONS, ORDERS, INVOICES, AND GET MORE INFORMATION ON PRODUCTION PROGRESS.
Vertical integration
YOU CREATE INFORMATION FLOWS GOING FROM THE WORKFLOOR TO THE MANAGEMENT OFFICE, FOR EXAMPLE THROUGH A MANAGEMENT EXECUTION SYSTEM (MES).
Smart Factory: ready for the future
A Smart Factory responds to the new requirements and works according to the principles of Industry 4.0. Some examples of what you can achieve with innovative technologies:
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Different technologies continuously monitor the power consumption in your company and optimize it where possible. For example, by automatically stopping processes that are not in use.
PREVENT ERRORS AND IMPROVE PROCESSES
Sensors and algorithms make your processes less and less error-sensitive. In your Smart Factory, you can predict possible errors and prevent them from happening with preventive maintenance or a quick intervention.
IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF YOUR EMPLOYEES
Industrial and digital transformations also benefit your employees. Optimized process management ensures that they can work more safely. Moreover, you can also use them more purposefully by reducing repetitive work as much as possible, and in the end even making it unnecessary.
WHAT DOES A SMART FACTORY LOOK LIKE?
A SMART FACTORY IS A COLLECTION OF DIFFERENT PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS RESIDING IN DIFFERENT LAYERS THROUGHOUT YOUR BUSINESS:
DATA COLLECTION POINT
The core of your Smart Factory is the Management Execution System (MES).
All data from your production processes come together in the MES. For example data about:
- The supply of raw materials.
- The locations of your products.
- The path your products take.
- The progress of bulk processes.
We can integrate the data at this level with your own ERP system.
INTERFACE FOR ADMINISTRATION
All data in the MES is managed in intuitive interfaces. This allows you to maintain an overview of all production processes and manage them efficiently.
source of real-time data
You will find the Control Level under the Process Management Level.
The Control Level consists of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). These are programmed in such a way that they bring together the data of all parts from production and transfer them to the MES as real-time data.
Field Level: parts and hardware
The last layer of your Smart Factory is the Field Level (FL). This is crucial for the delivery of the data and the execution of your processes. This level connects all parts and hardware. For example:
- Electric wires and conduits.
- The connections of the Programmable Logic Controllers.
- The placement of sensors.
- The integration of all parts in your production lines.
THE ADVANTAGES OF A SMART FACTORY IN A NUTSHELL
Productivity:
Work more efficiently, more goal-oriented and produce more in less time.
Flexibility:
Unexpected change or setback? With your Smart Factory, you can respond immediately - or prevent the problem - thanks to prediction technologies.
Competitivity:
With your Smart Factory, you work more efficiently, you produce more and you meet the expectations of your customers. This way you are always one step ahead of your competitors.
Safety:
Offer your employees a safer working environment thanks to optimized work processes and error prediction equipment.
Eco-friendly:
The requirements to work more ecologically are getting stricter. Your Smart Factory is prepared for this: different technologies make your work more efficient and help you save, reuse and recycle energy and raw materials.
Profitability:
Are you still struggling with mistakes that paralyze your entire production line? Are your employees burdened with repetitive tasks? By optimizing and transforming your processes, you save hours and make more profit.
Why a Smart Factory is the future
Do you work in the industrial sector? Then you know that there is no escaping from the digital (r)evolution.
- Your customers and stakeholders expect more and better from you.
- Everything must be made real-time, error-free and traceable.
Digi-Flow helps you to respond to this and get the most out of it. Together we transform your company into a Smart Factory, enabling you to:
- Be better prepared for radical and rapid changes in the market.
- Be ready for Industry 4.0, thanks to technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
- Face the insurmountable war for talent.
- Easily meet the increasing demand for more flexibility and personalization.
IS YOUR COMPANY READY FOR THE FUTURE?
Are you curious about what your company would look like as a Smart Factory? Our experts are happy to assist you.
Request Your Brainstorm Session
Do you want to work more efficient and future-proof in your industrial business? Plan a free brainstorm session and get to know us.
