Industry 4.0 - A practical approach to adaptation and implementation

As the industries start recovering from the effect of the pandemic, the emphasis will be on automation and digitization. More and more industries so far shying away from Industry 4.0 implementation will be forced to look into use of technology to enhance operational efficiency. This write up aims at giving a road map and also highlights the potential problems that need to be taken into account.

Common Pitfalls

1. Forgetting the low hanging fruits:

The word Industry 4.0 immediately brings up concepts like Digital Twins, Condition based Monitoring, Predictive analytics etc., While these are all possible, they may not be the right starting point.
 Start with getting a digital foot print.
 Get live data for real time visibility on your manufacturing KPI
 Track and record losses as they occur
 Analyse data to improve efficiency
 Empower decision making at the correct level
In short, start doing things right. Once this is done move on to the Right things to do ( Predictive analytics etc.,)

2. Not doing the cost benefit analysis:

Critical equipment running in an inaccessible location in petro chemical plant will definitely require a vibration monitoring system to predict very expensive and potentially dangerous failures. Is the same technology required on your shop floor machines running in a controlled environment and maintained periodically? Is the cost worth the savings?
Instead of getting carried away by technology, pause to think whether there is Value addition.

3. Industry 4.0 is a change in the way you operate - not a project to be completed:

Many a time the question is ‘what should we do to become Industry 4.0 compliant.’ This is a journey and not a destination to be reached. You do have milestones but they show what you have done and not what remains to be done.
It is not an award or certification but a way of working

Common Issues during implementation

1. Heterogeneous equipment:

From simple limit switch control to relay logic to PLC to CNC – all kinds equipment co-exist in a typical manufacturing shop. Add measuring instruments and test rigs, the mix becomes heady. It is a huge task to decide on the equipment to monitor, level of monitoring possible and required in each equipment, the frequency of data collection and the protocols to use. Unless there is real clarity at this stage, the implementation is bound to fail.

2. Cyber Security concerns:

It will be better to have separate network for Industry 4.0 isolated from the corporate IT network. Data only should allowed to flow to corporate network through secure gate way. The cost of such networking can be quite high and often missed in budget.

3. Lack of Standard Protocols:

Though standard protocols like OPC UA and MT Connect are available, they still need device drivers from control manufacturers. Each control manufacturer has its own Industry 4.0 suite which in most cases will not communicate with other systems or will need a device driver.

4. Human factors:

Transparent live data will expose the inadequacies and inefficiencies in the system. This may create a sense of fear and hence rejection from users. Managements need to educate the users and establish that these are improvement tools and not fault finding tools.

Way to go

 Identify pain points and areas that need improvement
 Start in a model cell or model line
 Establish the benchmarks
 Identify the right technology
 Deploy and monitor
 Move horizontally
 Take next set of development in the model line

Remember