Industry 4.0- Industrial Automation Solutions and Applications

Industry 4.0 assures exponential enhancements in flexibility, productivity and security by utilizing big advances in edge-to-cloud computing, software configurable systems, analytics and more.

The Industry 4.0 is a structured system that utilizes cybernetic solution and digital communication in industrial products and services. Generally it is integrated with the Smart Factory, it’s a transversal process, regardless of business area that creates industrial production completely automated and interconnected in which machinery, people and devices communicate with each other for an intelligent management system.

The effect of digitization in the industry changes, day by day, the production system making it even more dynamic: the speed of response improves; higher flexibility is now realizable to encounter the market and the individual customer requirements. Industry 4.0 enterprises generated $5.1 billion in 2017 and this is supposed to achieve nearly $7.7 billion in 2018 and $21.7 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.1%, as per report highlighted by Industry 4.0 Technologies: Global Markets Through 2023. With Industry 4.0, the ROI opportunities are remarkable because of the advantages the technologies that provides.

Four central design concepts support all Industry 4.0 system conceptualization:

Interoperability:

The capability of machines, devices, sensors and people to connect and interact with each other via the Internet of Things (IoT).

Information transparency:

Contextualized information generated via a virtual copy of the physical world through sensor data.

Technical assistance:

Firstly, the analytical help by the system for humans in making decisions and solving problems; secondly, the capacity to assist humans with tasks that are too challenging or physically dangerous for humans.

Decentralized decision-making:

The capability of cyber-physical systems to make simple decisions on their own and become as autonomous as possible.

Advantages of Industry 4.0 applications:

The integration of industry 4.0 applications has various benefits, both in terms of process and project:

• Efficiency of the entire process increases, sometimes prominently.

• Cost savings are immediately considered for, referred to improved processing time, minimizes utilization of resources, elimination of downtimes that reflects in a lower cost of products.

• Flexibility, since it’s possible to modify products as per the operator choice. The plant can alter itself, combining automatically parameter modification, as per the requirements, minimizing dramatically latency between the requests from the market the new jobs production.

• Cross solution. The operator association is the same regardless the kind or type of control system architecture, the anomalies of various plants are normalized through the Cloud Database; the consistency of the information is the main advantage for the user and a basis for the economy of the plants.

Features of Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 Applications in various Industries

Logistics

Logistics 4.0 and Supply Chain Management 4.0 or smart supply chain management cover the different segments of end-to-end logistics and supply chain management in many circumstances of Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems, appearing technologies, advanced data analytics and (semi)autonomous decisions empowered by AI.

The technology drive of Logistics 4.0 allows companies to work more efficiently than ever before with customers and partners, e.g. suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and logistics providers.

Construction

The construction industry is on the edge of a new industrial age. The fourth industrial revolution will notice construction approach in line with more digitally developed industries. This will transform not only how physical structures are supported, built and maintained, but also how they are eventually used. The features of digital data are already being notices to a degree through initial adoption of BIM (Building Information Modeling).

Public Transportation

The important reasons for the exposure of the Smart City Initiative are to generate a supportable model for cities and maintain the quality of life of their citizens. The topic of the smart city cannot be understood only as a technical discipline, but different economic, compassionate or legal aspects must be contained as well.

Connecting information from process-based Industry 4.0 with intelligent transport systems of the smart city could generate practical, demand-oriented and higher productivity of manufacturing enterprises as well as supportable growth of society.

Manufacturing

Industry 4.0 is the manufacturing movement that is revolutionizing the business of building products. The movement to smart factories is already started.

While robots presented a global average of 10% of factory tasks in 2015, by 2025, that number is assumed to rise to 25 %. Combined with the appearing internet of things (IoT), Industry 4.0 provides manufacturers the capability to gather, monitor and react on massive collection of data like never before and then set those actions in motion with highly systematic, automated robotics.

Food Industry

The food and beverage industry is transforming fast, with connectivity and unlimited data launching it into a new digital age. This new reality will undoubtedly modify the risk profile of the industry and organizations will need to develop for the improving move to automation. The high speed of new technological advancements has revolved the traditional manufacturing industry on its head in short order. There are many varieties of intelligent identification systems which allow better track ability.

For example, radio frequency identification (RFID) labeling trace crops right from gathering in order to be able to track the origins of the cargo.

Advantages of Industry 4.0: Industrial Automation Solutions

Increased Productivity

In easy terms, an Industry 4.0 technology allows you to do more with less. In other words, you can generate more and quicker while allocating your resources more cost-effectively and systematically. Your production lines will also encounter less downtime due to improved machine monitoring and automated decision-making. In fact, general Overall Equipment Effectiveness will also improve as your facility moves closer to becoming an Industry 4.0 Smart Factory.

Enhanced Efficiency

Various areas of your automation sector will become more efficient as a result of Industry 4.0-related technologies. Some of these efficiencies are as follows– less machine downtime as well as the capacity to make more products and make them speedier. Other examples of enhanced efficiency contain automatic trace and track processes and automated reporting.

Flexibility and Agility

The benefits of Industry 4.0 also include increased workability and agility. For instance, it is easier to scale production up or down and to initiate new products to the production line as well as creating new opportunities for one-off production (manufacture of single product), high-mix manufacturing (large variety of products in small quantities) and more.

Makes Compliance Easier

Complying with synchronizations in industries like pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing does not have to be a manual process. Instead, Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to automate compliance containing track and trace, quality inspections, data logging, serialization and more.

Better User Experience

Industry 4.0 also presents options to enhance the service you provide to customers and increase customer experience. For instance, with automated track and trace abilities, you can rapidly solve problems. In addition, you will have hardly any issues with product availability, product quality will also increase and you can provide customers more choices.

Minimizes Costs

However, the cost of manufacturing will remarkably fall as a result of Industry 4.0 technologies, i.e. automation, data management, systems integration and more.

Basic drivers for these reduced costs involved:
•  Better use of resources
•  Faster manufacturing
• Less machine downtime
• Less quality issues with products
• Less material, resource and product waste
• Lower overall operating costs

Higher Revenues

Many of the above pointers can result in higher revenues for your automation facility. For instance, by fully automating your production line and applying other Industry 4.0 technologies, you could add a new move with minimum staffing costs to encounter a collection in demand or compete for a new contract.

Improved Profitability

In addition to all above pointers, Industry 4.0 technologies allow you to reproduce higher margin, higher quality and/or more innovative products. For instance, Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to provide customers personalized products while still using general production methods to create those products.

Industry 4.0 has been adopted at a record pace. Industry 4.0 reports the move towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes. It’s all about reorganizing the way your complete business operates and grows. hIOTron’s IoT Course will offer you a absolute experience of implementing IoT in various industries and its applications.