Industry 4.0 Key Components – Part 4

Industry 4.0 Key Components

In today’s Industry 4.0 post, let’s look at some of the Industry 4.0 key components. Whether these components fit into your scenarios, or you need to consider others is dependent on your business case. For example, you may want to include cloud computing in your solution, but if your factory needs to be able to run in full isolation in the event of a network or power grid failure, then you can’t be dependent on cloud solutions, you need to use edge computing or local cloud instead. We’ve selected 5 components you should evaluate for your Industry 4.0 solution.  Industrial IoT as an Industry 4.0 Key Component Industrial IoT is a … Read more

Industry 4.0 Challenges – Part 3

Industry 4.0 Challenges

In today’s post we’ll look at some of the Industry 4.0 challenges and risks presented by adopting it, to contrast with the benefits that we looked at in part two. Before adopting any strategy in this area, you should understand these challenges and see how they apply to your own business.  Cost of Industry 4.0 Adoption In part two we made the case that Industry 4.0 adoption will lead to lower costs over time and observed that the return on investment time for adopters was decreasing. Neither of these points eliminate the very real cost impact of adoption. There are significant costs, from replacing equipment with modern IoT connected options, … Read more

Industry 4.0 Benefits – Part 2

Industry 4.0 Benefits

In part two of the Industry 4.0 blog series let’s look at a few of the great benefits of adoption. More and more companies are increasingly adopting strategic approaches around digital transformation. The benefits of leaning in to new digital tools build on each other to yield undeniable outcomes for companies that successfully execute these strategies.  Industry 4.0 – Visibility  With highly connected devices and a vast amount of data within arm’s reach, the modern factory becomes visible in ways it never could before. Real time monitoring and big data analysis puts this all front and center for everyone from top level executive to factory floor worker, at any time.  … Read more

Industry 4.0 – Part 1 – The History 

Industry 4.0

What is Industry 4.0 Industry 4.0 is a term that has been around for about a decade already. Also known as the fourth industrial revolution, it’s a term that’s quietly slipped by a lot of people’s radars. A quick recap is required. The first industrial revolution occurred in the late 1700’s with the advent of steam and coal power and genesis of the manufacturing industry taking over from agriculture as the backbone of the global economy.   The second industrial revolution took place in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s with the onset of new energy sources, electricity, oil, and gas, along with process refinements in the factory such as the … Read more