Industry 4.0 In Manufacturing Industry

The manufacturing industry has been slower than the other sectors when it comes to reacting to the advent of digital technologies and embracing the latest digital tools and platforms. As a result, it witnessed negligible impact across the entire manufacturing value chain and operating model. Although some of the manufacturing companies have quickly benefited from cutting edge digital technologies, the number of those companies remains small. Basically, the manufacturing industry is broad, comprising both giant multinationals and small manufacturers producing for industrial partners or direct consumers.

Lately, technology scenarios have started to change as the industry is leveraging advanced digital and mobile technologies to deliver a greater customer experience, process efficiency, and overall productivity, finally ushering in an era of smart manufacturing!

What is Industry 4.0 and what are its enduring influences?

Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution can be defined as the much-needed digital transformation that will revolutionize the manufacturing industry. The term was first coined by the German government and implies the increased competitiveness of the manufacturing industry by adopting autonomous and intelligent digital technologies such as industrial IoT, artificial intelligence, automation, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, data analytics and related sciences. Industry 4.0 creates a cyber-physical production environment across the industry value chain with a fusion of information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT), bringing real-time data and information to industrial operations .

In simpler terms, #Industry 4.0 has created a connected environment for manufacturing and related industries where IoT-based industrial data, computers, people, processes, systems, services, and assets communicate with each other. and share meaningful and actionable data and information. They do it to drive a smart, informed, collaborative and innovative value chain and industrial ecosystem. All this digitally connected network that includes cyber-physical systems, smart devices, Internet of systems and industrial Internet of things together facilitates intuitive production mechanisms.

What are the roles of industry 4.0 in manufacturing industry?

The applicability of digital technologies in manufacturing is tremendous. It extends the greater ability to produce high-quality goods in less time and with reduced costs. Recent waves of digitization have enabled decision makers and innovators to expand the reach of existing electronic, information and mobile technologies.

Real-time information sharing and presentation and communication powered by industrial assets connected to the Internet of Things drives efficiency and productivity at multiple levels throughout the manufacturing value chain. This results in improved business models, better customer focus, better cost management, faster time to market, longer delivery cycles, higher productivity, and a proven increase in revenue.

Digital tools and technologies enhance communications and collaboration across multiple channels within the value chain and these new capabilities transform the traditional value chain into an integrated value circle, leading to further integration, automation and acceleration. of internal operations and work execution processes with better coordination and consolidation that translates into transparency and comprehensive business efficiency.

Let's take a look at some of the areas where digitization can benefit critical aspects of a manufacturing company's value chain.

# 1. Innovation is promoted through the design of digital products with the help of digital technologies that allow the use of techniques such as open innovation, co-creation, and crowdsourcing. These facilitate the generation of ideas for innovative solutions and can accelerate product development.

# 2. Digital technologies such as virtual prototyping and testing through engineering simulation software help manufacturers predict product performance, efficiency, risks, and challenges, thereby reducing the time to market. Mobility in manufacturing may be incremental in modernizing the processes from asset management, management of floor production , field sales and field service management.

#3. Integrated digital knowledge management systems and tools enable a more efficient and cohesive approach to capturing, sharing and developing knowledge-based content and information , user guides and technical documents customized for the client.

# 4. The capacities of decision - making companies manufacturing increase with the help of the analysis of big data that drives the collection and comprehensive evaluation of data from various sources to produce actionable information for manufacturers and to promote an effective decision - making .

# 5. They are exploring autonomous robots low cost, since it is expected to drive intelligent customer interactions without human involvement. They are also being used for increased responsibilities in manufacturing units.

# 6. Digital tools allow manufacturers to have tighter control over materials, resources, supply chain and transportation systems that can now be efficiently synchronized and communicated with each other thanks to the intervention of Industrial IoT.

# 7. Manufacturers can optimize plant operations and warehouse management and machine configuration with the help of digital technologies such as simulations, RFID, and advanced warehouse management systems .

# 8. Digital tools and technologies such as supply chain virtualization , vendor collaboration platform, 3D printing for prototyping, end-to-end processes for materials and value streams, supply chain analysis real-time and online parts, and remote order tracking can greatly optimize supply chain management and production processes.

# 9. Digitally enabled devices, platforms and dashboards can allow manufacturers to track customer requirements, feedback, asset location, employee activity, product inventory, delivery status and customer experiences, and also enables customers to use web-based order tracking.

# 10. Digital technologies such as advanced ERP facilitate the direct transfer of production orders to machines, thus eliminating the need for manual tasks and this connectivity between the ERP and the executive operations system improves transparency and visibility of the material availability .

In addition to the technological aspects, digital media platforms drive targeted marketing efforts with virtual campaigns across multiple digital touch points and create new possibilities for manufacturers to connect and target global customers with personalized messages, which aims to improve brand equity and customer loyalty at different stages of the process. Purchase decision.

Additionally, a mobile workforce proves to be more efficient, cohesive, information-driven, and agile by offering customer-centric solutions such as hands-on devices managed with automated kiosk software and chatbots to quickly address customer complaints. Industry 4.0 powered by a robust and multi-dimensional digital transformation is poised to take the manufacturing industry to great heights. It's just a matter of time and invention!

Are you looking for the experts that can help in integrating #industry4.0 into your business in the manufacturing industry? If yes, you can speak to us as ENERGYSAVER. We are leading industry 4.0 experts who use technology to drive the businesses of our clients.