As we well know, Industry 4.0 involves the application of digital technologies in processes where the Internet of Things (IoT), interconnection, and automation facilitate autonomous management of facilities.
As a result, we achieve faster, more efficient, safer, more flexible, and lower-cost manufacturing processes. Thanks to the vast amount of connected data, we can also offer personalized services with greater adaptability to specific demands.
With digitalization, 24-hour production can be achieved, ensuring a refined, repetitive, and error-free process. Interruptions are avoided and production times can be reduced, leading to increased sales.
In short, as with previous industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 is paving the way for new business models that bring about social, technological, and economic changes.
What are the main digital trends that allow us to have a connected industry?
Connected industry is made possible by a set of technologies that link the physical world of people and machines with the digital world. Let’s review some of the most important enablers:
Digital Twins
Digital twins are another technological innovation that consists of creating a virtual replica of a process, product, or service that simulates the behavior of its physical counterpart. Their purpose is to monitor it and analyze its reaction to specific situations to improve its efficiency and performance.
Thanks to them, it is possible to exhaustively analyze all the information we have and, when combined with AI, IoT, or Big Data solutions, allow us to control systems. This allows us to avoid problems, address new business opportunities, plan future scenarios, or customize production based on customer requirements.
Thanks to the virtual replica, we can receive immediate feedback and apply any type of correction very quickly.
Artificial Intelligence
Machines equipped with this intelligence have the ability to learn and make decisions based on their experience. They provide a level of productivity and efficiency that has not been achieved until now in the industrial sector’s value chain.
Without a doubt, it is the most important enabling technology. Together with machine learning, equipment self-learns and can be applied to predictive maintenance to correct malfunctions.
Cybersecurity
Smart factories require professionals with expertise in this field because cyberattacks in industries are common threats.
The importance of cybersecurity lies in the following reasons:
Companies’ CPS, Cyber Physical Systems, or technological production processes must be protected and must incorporate important security measures with key features that ensure integrity and accessibility with encryption and authentication methods.
An appropriate cybersecurity protocol will constantly assess the current state of the industry in terms of threats and risks to always maintain an optimal level of security.
Cybersecurity is key to protecting the hyperconnected telematics management structure.
Big Data
Every day, we generate a large amount of data that, when used appropriately, can be highly profitable for companies. These data sets require more complex software than we are used to using for processing.
IoT
This involves equipping industrial objects and machines with chips and sensors to collect and exchange data over the internet.
Cloud Services
This is a management method in which the files we need are available anytime, anywhere, as they are no longer located on a local computer. All that is required is a stable internet connection to access them.
Blockchain
Thanks to this technological innovation, information is distributed among multiple users in the form of a blockchain that cannot be modified after publication. This technology is important in the banking world, but also in medicine and industry.
Nanotechnology
It refers to the creation of materials and the design of equipment that allow us to control matter at the atomic and molecular level.
Along with these digital enablers, we must not forget to mention augmented reality, virtual reality, and collaborative robotics, which are so important today.
