Industry 4.0 / IIoT

In the age of the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, digital technologies are linking the physical and digital worlds, helping to create a new future of connectivity for manufacturers. Manufacturers can take advantage of this new era of connectivity, which promises to deliver greater productivity, improved utilisation of assets and enhanced decision-making, by linking their operations data with smart manufacturing technologies.

By offering third-party-enabled Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based products and solutions, industrial automation vendors have evolved to provide proprietary digital platforms via the Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) business model. The trend of digitalisation in end-user industries prompted automation vendors to invest in IIoT technologies across diverse applications.

  It has been announced that Deutsche Messe Technology Academy, Hanover and Phoenix Contact, Blomberg, have agreed on actively cooperating on employee qualification. Their aim is to teach the necessary skills and knowledge for the digital transformation. 

  At SPS/IPC/Drives Italia 2018, Mitsubishi Electric highlighted why gigabit CC-Link IE is a future proof technology for open networking in industrial automation. The company backed this up by showing an extensive range of products with CC-Link IE connectivity.

Metrology is of fundamental importance to future factories because so much factory efficiency relies on accurate data. A process or product cannot be improved unless it can be measured accurately. Metrology, the science and processes of measurement, captures data about both tooling and components to allow new manufacturing processes – such as additive manufacturing and robot-operated machining – to be tested and perfected.

Sophisticated robots, drones, and automobiles on display at places like the world-famous Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are consumer playthings that, thus far, have won most of the media attention surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) movement.

With increased value provided by edge computing to security improvements with Blockchain integration, IoT platforms across the board are just starting to get sexy. By Joseph Zulick, Manager at MRO Electric and Supply

Joseph Zulick, Manager at MRO Electric and Supply, explores how controls, automation, and instrumentation can help with integration and use of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies. As advances in technology make it more cost-effective to deploy IIoT, industries will need to acquire a strategic approach to integrating new sensor data with pre-existing data environments.

An IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) development kit for the HARTING MICA (Modular Industry Computing Architecture) edge computer has been introduced by RS Components. The IIoT kit is a simple plug-and-play system that enables fast digital condition monitoring of multiple sensor inputs from machinery.

A recent interview, Nikon's Corporate Vice President Tadashi Nakayama provided insight into the strategy of the firm's Industrial Metrology Business Unit, of which he is Deputy General Manager. In particular, he explained the company’s strategic focus on Quality 4.0, where digital, automated and connected inspection enables complete process control from design through to manufacture.