Following revolutions in steam power, electricity and digital technology, a new industrial revolution is already on the horizon – Industry 4.0. Where design, production and distribution were once isolated silos, the factory of tomorrow is a highly integrated and automated system, in which people, equipment and goods communicate their location and status with each other via a network, adjusting design, scheduling, inventory and calibration on the fly. The results are fast, customisable workflows that eliminate defects and downtime, waste and waiting.
“This complex interplay of sensors, software and automation processes, enabled by the internet of things, offers manufacturers an immense opportunity to drive top line growth by increasing productivity,” said Professor Detlef Zühlke, director of innovative factory systems at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and chairman of SmartFactory, at a seminar on Industry 4.0 at CWIEME Berlin in May.
Having founded SmartFactory, the world’s largest independent research institute dedicated to realising Industry 4.0, in 2005, Prof. Zühlke, together with a consortium of 16 partners, has created a 12m-long prototype production line to demonstrate how the concept could work. The production system is controlled entirely by wireless technology to produce business card holders and can be quickly reconfigured under running conditions using plug and play components that respond to internet-based commands – to change the colour or design of the holder, for instance.
Meanwhile the German government has invested 220 million euros into Verbändeplattform Industrie 4.0, a collaborative initiative between BITKOM (the industrial association for ICT in Germany), VDMA (the German engineering federation), ZVEI (the German electronic and electrical manufacturers’ association), IGM (the German metalworkers’ union), the German federal ministry of education and research, and the ministry for economics, to establish a common language for network devices and support its implementation. The first version of a reference architectural model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) was published by the platform in March this year.
Global race
And Germany is not the only country keen to jump-start the revolution. Austria, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Korea and China are all investing heavily in research, standardisation and infrastructure. Last year the Industrial Internet Consortium, a non-profit partnership of industry, government and academia, was founded in the USA to influence the development of global standards, and reference architecture and frameworks for interoperability, as well as new industry use cases and test beds.
“There is considerable interest in the USA as to how Industry 4.0 can promote reshoring and make American manufacturing financially attractive for businesses,” said Mark Watson, associate director for industrial automation at IHS Technology at a briefing on the first morning of CWIEME Berlin 2015, together with Bernd Heinrichs, managing director of Internet of Things at Cisco EMEAR and Dr. Rolf Winter, managing director of ZVEI’s electrical winding and insulation systems division.
Faced with increasing labour costs and competition from southeast Asia, China too has been attracted by the concept and invested 800 billion yuan in infrastructure (especially fibre optics), education and training through initiatives, such as Made in China 2025 and Internet +.
“With a changing economic environment China wants to move labour into more skilled roles and go from mass producing low-cost products to high-quality ones. Industry 4.0 can help the country achieve these goals,” Mr. Watson said.
Data analysis and security
But before this can happen there are several challenges that need to be overcome, from developing software that can extract actionable information from terabytes of data, and overturning FDA regulations in the USA that prevent dynamic changes during manufacturing, to establishing new business models and ways of working. One of the greatest concerns for potential users, however, is cyber security.
“Since smart factories could be managed remotely via the internet, there is also a chance that they could be hacked and sabotaged from anywhere in the world,” explained Prof. Zühlke. “The greatest risk, however, is from the factory’s own employees.”
During his seminar Prof. Zühlke cited an experiment at an aerospace and defence company in the USA where Mickey Mouse USB sticks containing a virus were thrown over the fence. Within a matter of days several sticks had been picked up by staff and connected to the company’s network, despite unofficial USBs being strictly forbidden.
“The network is currently an open door for security. Clear rules need to be put in place as to how people can and cannot interact with the network at the factory,” he said.
Despite these obstacles, Prof. Zühlke envisages the first industrial production systems going live in three-to-five years and large-scale industrial application within a decade. According to Prof. Zühlke, the packaging industry is likely to lead the way, since there is already a high degree of modularisation among the hardware, followed by automation equipment manufacturers looking to demonstrate the benefits of Industry 4.0 to customers with their own facilities, and the automotive industry, where flexibility and customisability is a significant advantage.
“We may not be there quite yet,” he said. “But believe me, the revolution is coming.”
