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By Jiani Zhang, IBM
Talk to any manufacturing executive and odds are they have heard of Industry 4.0.
Originally coined in Germany through a technology project to computerize manufacturing, Industry 4.0 has now launched into a worldwide initiative to transform the manufacturing sector. Japan and China have even coined their own "Industrial Value Chain Initiative" and "Made in China 2025" slogans to emphasize their dedication to this strategy.
And there is good reason for why Industry 4.0 projects are popping up at every manufacturing company.
Two major technologies are driving Industry 4.0. They are:
- The Internet of Things: With the growth and adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), factories are becoming more instrumented and interconnected. IoT provides the ability to gain valuable data off of all the "things" in our factories. From the condition of assets and equipment to quality and yield metrics, IoT provides live, real-time data from the manufacturing environment to our fingertips.
- Analytics: Data, and more importantly analytics, are changing the way we see our machines, our processes and our operations. Analytics can identify patterns in the data, model behaviors of equipment, and predict failures based on a variety of variables that exist in manufacturing.
As more factories and equipment are instrumented with the IoT, data volume will only grow larger. Conventional computing will struggle to scale with the large influx of data and the complexity of the analytics.
Computing must become cognitive to process, analyze, and optimize the information. To truly pave the way forward to Industry 4.0 and beyond, manufacturing has to evolve into cognitive manufacturing.
Cognitive manufacturing fully uses the data across systems, equipment and processes to derive actionable insights across the entire value chain from design through manufacture to support. Built on the foundations of IoT and employing analytics combined with cognitive technology, cognitive manufacturing drives at key productivity improvements in quality, efficiency, and reliability of the manufacturing environment.
Cognitive manufacturing transforms manufacturing in three ways. They are:
- Intelligent assets and equipment use connected sensors, analytics, and cognitive capabilities to sense, communicate and self-diagnose issues in order to optimize performance and reduce unnecessary downtime.
- Cognitive processes and operations analyze a variety of information from workflows, context, process, and environment to drive quality, enhance operations and decision-making.
- Smarter resources optimization combines various forms of data from individuals, location, usage, and expertise with cognitive insight to make better use of a company's workforce or use of energy.
Consider if a consumer electronics manufacturer on a tight deadline to roll out a new line of smartphones uses cognitive manufacturing to monitor the health of their machinery, proactively conduct repairs and avoid costly downtime to eliminate the any unexpected delays.
In parallel, these same cognitive technologies could be used to inspect each device while still on the conveyor belt to identify possible imperfections and ensure that no device leaves the factory unless it’s up to electronics maker's high standards and is in-line with customer demand.
And the impact of cognitive manufacturing doesn’t end there. It allows these businesses to meet consumers’ growing demand for a higher degree of product customization, whether it’s color, screen size, and more, all while ensuring that each device is in mint condition and delivered on time.
Cognitive manufacturing can transform a business by using industry-leading technologies to drive intelligent assets and equipment, cognitive processes and operations, and smarter use of resources. And before we forget, for many businesses the benefits will extend all the way to their loyal customers.
Tweet this: How will cognitive + the IoT affect manufacturing? Read @Jiani_Zhang from @IBM on @Forbes
Jiani Zhang is the Offerings Strategy Leader for Watson Internet of Things at IBM.
To learn more about the new era of business, visit ibm.com/outthink. Visit the Watson IoT website to learn more about cognitive manufacturing.
A version of this story appeared on IBM's Internet of Things blog on July 27th.
