Meaning and Nature of Industry 4.

0 and Latest Trends

Industry 4.0, which refers to the fourth industrial revolution, is the cyber-physical
transformation of manufacturing. The name is inspired by Germany’s Industries 4.0, a
government initiative to promote connected manufacturing and a digital convergence
between industry, businesses and other processes.

Developing smart factories provides an incredible opportunity for the manufacturing

industry to enter the fourth industrial revolution. Analyzing the large amounts of big data
collected from sensors on the factory floor ensures real-time visibility of manufacturing
assets and can provide tools for performing predictive maintenance in order to minimize
equipment downtime.

History and evolution of Industry 4.0

The first industrial revolution took place at the end of the 18th century and was marked
by mechanization made possible by steam and water power. The second industrial
revolution, which occurred at the start of the 20th century, was aided by electricity and
marked by mass production, assembly lines and divisions of labor. The third, around the
start of the 1970s, came through the use of computers to further automate machines and
production processes.

The fourth industrial revolution might best be described as an extension of the third
industrial revolution. Whereas Industry 3.0 introduced computers into the manufacturing
process, Industry 4.0 focuses on connecting those computers to one another. However,
Industry 4.0 goes far beyond systems on the factory floor being able to communicate with
one another. When fully applied, Industry 4.0 allows for the creation of smart factories
and enables digital manufacturing.

The first industrial revolution, which REALLY was a revolution, and, among others
thanks to invention of steam machines, the usage of water and steam power and all
sorts of other machines, would lead to the industrial transformation of society with
trains, mechanization of manufacturing and loads of smog.
The second industrial revolution is typically seen as the period where electricity and
new manufacturing ‘inventions’ which it enabled, such as the assembly line, led to
the area of mass production and to some extent to automation.
The third industrial revolution had everything to do with the rise of computers,
computer networks (WAN, LAN, MAN,…), the rise of robotics in manufacturing,
connectivity and obviously the birth of the Internet, that big game changer in the
ways information is handled and shared, and the evolutions to e-anything versions
of previously brick and mortar environments only, with far more automation.

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 In the fourth industrial revolution we move from ‘just’ the Internet and the client-
server model to ubiquitous mobility, the bridging of digital and physical
environments (in manufacturing referred to as Cyber Physical Systems), the
convergence of IT and OT, and all the previously mentioned technologies (Internet
of Things, Big Data, cloud, etc.) with additional accelerators such as advanced
robotics and AI/cognitive which enable Industry 4.0 with automation and
optimization in entirely new ways that lead to ample opportunities to innovate and
truly fully automate and bring the industry to the next level.

Industry 4.0 and IoT

One of the major technological trends of the last decade has been the adoption of IoT
technologies. IoT essentially refers to the ability to connect non-traditional computing
devices to the internet or to private networks.

Although the term is often used broadly, IoT often refers to smart, connected, consumer
devices. However, manufacturers have also adopted the concept and have begun
deploying large numbers of connected smart sensors in manufacturing centers. The use of
such sensors is often referred to as Industrial IoT (IIoT).

IIoT is a key enabler of Industry 4.0, but Industry 4.0 also commonly uses other
connected technologies such as smart machines and cyber-physical systems. All of these
systems work together to achieve levels of automation that weren’t previously possible.

Applications of Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 can be applied to all levels of the manufacturing process from product
development to product end of life. Additionally, some manufacturers apply Industry 4.0
concepts to external resources such as supply chains, thereby enabling them to better
anticipate supply disruptions, while also making it easier to source all of the materials
used in the manufacturing of a product.

Another way that Industry 4.0 is applied is acquiring real-time data in manufacturing.
This data can then be analyzed in an effort to optimize operations. This can improve
efficiency and reduce the time to market, while also increasing the organization’s
productivity.

Technologies are driving Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is driven by the convergence of technologies, including the following:

IIoT and the widespread use of sensors;

big data and analytics;
artificial intelligence and machine learning;
LPWANs for machine-to-machine and IoT networks;
IT/OT convergence;
Touch and voice interfaces and augmented reality systems;

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 Advanced robotics; and
Additive manufacturing.

Essentially, all the new and developing technologies created for humans to communicate
with machines, for machines to communicate with each other and to achieve more
complicated goals, and for data to inform and optimize all the processes related to the
manufacturing sector will interconnect manufacturing processes from design through the
end of the product lifecycle.

Benefits of Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 provides numerous benefits to organizations that choose to implement it

fully.

One such benefit is that Industry 4.0 concepts can enable OEMs to see how customers
really used a product versus how it was expected it to be used.

Another benefit is that sensor data can help an organization to monitor the manufacturing
process in real time. This data can then be compared against a digital twin a simulation
that runs at perfect efficiency to determine where the process could be improved.

Some organizations have also applied Industry 4.0 concepts to their employee training
process. These training programs use augmented reality to teach employees how to
operate machinery and how to avoid unsafe practices before the employee is ever allowed
on the factory floor. Some organizations even extend augmented reality-based training to
other areas such as fire suppression and first aid.

Another benefit to Industry 4.0 is that its principles can help organizations avoid an
outage on the factory floor. Prior to the adoption of Industry 4.0, industrial machinery
was serviced based on manufacturer recommendations. However, Industry 4.0 has
enabled machinery to be equipped with sensors that monitor the machinery’s health on
an ongoing basis. This enables organizations to anticipate problems before they occur and
proactively take corrective action. In some cases, the machinery can even automatically
place an order for replacement parts. All this together can help an organization avoid a
costly outage that disrupts the manufacturing process.

One more benefit to applying Industry 4.0 concepts is that because the digital technology
used on the factory floor is tied to back-end corporate data systems, it allows big data
analytics to be performed on the data that is associated with the manufacturing process.
Such analytics can help the organization spot trends and gain insights that might
ultimately help it become more profitable.

Challenges of Industry 4.0

Early on, the main challenges for organizations wishing to implement Industry 4.0 were
cost and interoperability. The machines and sensors used on the factory floor often relied
on differing protocols, making communications between connected devices difficult.

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However, standards begun to emerge as Industry 4.0 saw greater adoption.

Another major challenge related to Industry 4.0 is cybersecurity. In the past, the systems
used on the factory floor tended to be proprietary in nature, and it was rare for such
systems to be connected to one another or to back-end IT systems. As such, the vendors
who created such systems rarely took a security-first approach to their development
efforts.

Connectivity between devices and IT resources can expose these devices to the same cyber
threats that have long plagued traditional IT devices. Additionally, a compromised IT
system can provide an attacker with a path through which to attack the resources used on
the factory floor.

Integrations in Industry 4.0: vertical and horizontal integration as all systems change

Further in this guide we will explore the two key integrations in the Industry 4.0 model.

The first is vertical integration whereby all the systems in the traditional automation
pyramid are affected: from field level and control level to production level, operations
level and enterprise planning level.

Vertical integration will make the traditional automation pyramid view disappear. The
same goes for several systems and applications across these various levels. Other systems
such as ERP will dramatically change while still others will be replaced by rapidly
emerging applications in the scope of Industrial IoT platforms, specifically manufacturing
platforms and vertical platforms for various tasks and use cases in the many aspects of
industry that get ever more features and become combined in an interoperable ‘systems of
systems’ approach and by digital transformation platforms and business applications
where IoT platforms and functionalities get integrated into.

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