Industry 4.0 is the German strategic initiative to take up a pioneering role in industrial IT which is currently revolutionising the manufacturing engineering sector. The trend towards digitalisation depends on networking meaning an intelligent communication between man and machine to optimise the production output.
Industry 4.0 pursues the goal to optimise the production output through an efficient collaboration of all components of the production process.
Man, machine and other production resources should communicate during the whole value chain. Resulting intelligent production systems increase the efficiency of organisation and processes. Automation and batch size 1 will not be mutually exclusive. A data exchange is possible over the whole life time cycle. If properly evaluated, the time cycle offers great potential for the use in construction, production and service.
60 percent of companies in the business of engineering and plant manufacturing deal with Industry 4.0. A third of these get intensively involved with the topic, therefore they are innovation and market leader in the digital world.
The result: The one, who starts with the networking and digitalisation of the production, is convinced by the economic use.
Industry 4.0 effects machines to realise on their own, if a new spare part is needed. The machine identifies the spare part in an intelligent spare parts catalog and informs the customer or directly reports to the manufacturer. Now the customer or manufacturer has all the necessary information to initiate a service order.
To kick this example up a notch, it is now possible for a machine to detect a soon to be defected part before any downtime. It is able to order the needed spare part independently in an intelligent spare parts catalog with shop function even before the wear and tear and to initiate a service order. The behaviour for repair and maintenance is similar. This scenario is not futuristic!
If a machine needs spare parts, the customer can identify and order the parts very easily with an intelligent spare parts catalog and the machine's support. The customer can focus on his core competence. Incorrect orders will be decreased, which saves time and resources.
In case of a problem, the machine initiates a service ticket, in order to continue working without interruption. The service technician can gain access from afar and fix the failure in the shortest time. Precious time is saved and downtime and subsequent damage are avoided.
When the maintenance of a machine is right ahead, the machine automatically informs the manufacturer’s service department. It is now possible to plan the maintenance with the customer and make an appointment. Therefore the downtime because of maintenance gets distinctly shortened and can take place at opportune moments.
