Digital Transformation Consulting Industry 4.0

Advantages and benefits

Within what has been called Industry 4.0 considers the application of a series of key technologies or enabling technologies from which significant transformations can be achieved in industrial plants and processes (IoT, machine learning, robotics, 3D printing, simulation, blockchain, simulation, etc). This will allow new ways of managing production plants more efficiently, optimizing resources and reducing operating costs, improving worker safety and efficiency, and creating new services and means of supervision and control associated with industrial facilities and processes.

In short, it will give rise to new paradigms centered on flexibility, modularity, decentralization and interoperability, which are the defining attributes of this new industrial ‘revolution’ that we are approaching.

In relation to its application by industrial SMEs, practically all forums and reports on digitization and Industry 4.0 insist on the idea of urgency and the need to address the path towards Industry 4.0 and digital transformation in SMEs if they do not want to lose competitiveness and, above all, the opportunities for new business that these processes can bring.

The benefits and value generated by the implementation of these technologies can originate from different aspects depending on the application. There is therefore no single value but different ‘values’ that all contribute to the total benefit provided. Among these values, I would like to highlight several of them:

• Value derived from the availability of real-time information that enables faster and more informed decision making.
• Value derived from the possibilities of identification of products in process or warehouse, their tracking and traceability.
• Value derived from the improvements in worker safety that can be achieved through the sensing of hazardous areas and the workers themselves.
• Value derived from improved operations and material flows through robotization and sensorization.
• Value derived from reductions in energy consumption and efficiency losses from a better understanding of the processes.
• Values derived from new processes and operations that are now possible thanks to new technologies.
• Value derived from improvements in maintenance and increased machine availability thanks to the possibilities of sensor-based predictive maintenance and automated data analysis.
• Value derived from new product functionalities, such as connectivity.

Thus, it is important to consider these potential advantages in a comprehensive manner, taking into account that in many cases they will be obtained from the combination of different technologies and new applications that will appear in the future based on the information gathered.

In any case, and even taking into account these possible benefits, a series of aspects will have to be considered in the analysis of the possibilities of a specific implementation, such as the following:

• Aspects of reliability, robustness and maturity of the technology.
• Initial cost and benefits.
• Data and worker safety .
• Maintenance and evolutions. Technology ‘absorption’ capabilities.
• Standardization and integration possibilities with other systems.

Managing all these variables can be complicated for an SME focused on its day-to-day business. Being aware of this, ITA has developed an approach to support and accompany SMEs on the road to Industry 4.0 that aims to help the company to identify and prioritize projects for the implementation of these technologies.

The objective of this solution is to first identify improvement opportunities from the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies that have a direct impact on productivity, quality and efficiency of manufacturing or its control. In a second phase, the possible impacts will be specified and assessed so that the company can make informed decisions regarding their possible implementation.

The result will be a series of opportunity sheets that will define for each of them:

• Objectives and results of the possible implementation
• Project risks
• Schedule
• First approximation of economic feasibility