IBM: Industry 4.0 means connected manufacturing
Written by Ian Gardner, Client Technology Leader at IBM who will be guiding us through business connectivity on the shop floor and back office at our Industry 4.0 Event on Tuesday 26th April
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Never has the need to invest in transforming the way you operate been so important. We are facing a perfect storm with the pandemic, supply chain issues, labour and skills shortages plus rising costs. Industry 4.0 offers an opportunity to alleviate some of these challenges through digital transformation.
But how? And do we really understand what Industry 4.0 is?
Adoption of this within manufacturing is too low and we seem to be trapped in a cycle of proofs of concepts and pilots. If we are going to meet the challenges we currently face, we need to act now and look at how we can do things differently. There are certain steps that can be taken that can quickly make a difference such as automation, customer service and better insight. Not forgetting the foundations.
Connected manufacturing requires a level of vertical and horizontal integration across your manufacturing ecosystem (machines, systems, suppliers and customers). What can be done to enable this?
It’s a lot to cover in a 30 minute talk but I hope that I can give enough insight and thoughts to enable you to better understand the key elements and considerations.
This session will give a high-level view of:
- What Industry 4.0 is
- The challenges that a typical manufacturing landscape present to this concept
- Vertical and horizontal integration
- Connectivity – joining the dots
- The roadmap and maturity levels
