Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things: How is early adoption progressing?
Is the Industrial iot just hype, or is it really worth it? Digital transformation is a challenge for most organizations and requires significant retraining efforts. It's normal to be worried, even suspicious.
On the other hand, businesses that are lagging behind Industry 4.0 are finding that they don't have the right digital infrastructure to withstand downtime. It also found out how difficult it is to implement new technologies during a global pandemic.
Introduce advanced technology
"Advanced technology" is an umbrella term that covers all technologies with a small number of users but with great promise. Such as artificial intelligence, speech recognition, virtual reality or 3D visualization.
As these technologies improve and become more accessible, we will witness the transformation of factories and plants as we know them, including maintenance.
Up close and personal with cloud-based analytics
Both the Industrial Internet of Things and advanced technologies help automate the collection of data and store it in the cloud. These achievements have two immediate implications: better understanding of machine health and prediction of failure. In the aforementioned survey, 70 percent of managers expect to use predictive maintenance to reduce downtime, while 60 percent count on reliability-focused maintenance.
But that's not the only close encounter industrial maintainers have with cloud-based analytics. In addition to predicting failures, we will also use data to model return on investment, performance, and quality. Sophisticated and accurate simulation software will become a major tool for problem solving, enabling managers to improve performance.
New subscription and pay-per-use models for industrial maintenance
New technologies are undoubtedly paving the way for new business models in industrial maintenance and technical assistance. Machines powered by the Industrial Internet of Things can send updates to manufacturers, triggering requests for assistance and maintenance when performance levels drop or breakdowns occur. This is not only a deeper dive into the realm of state-based maintenance, but a completely alternative maintenance model.
This is most exciting for smaller businesses or those that cannot afford expensive smart technology, as it will allow them to remain "in the game" without compromising their budgets.
The age of virtual maintenance and augmented reality
It is impossible to imagine the future of industrial maintenance without imagining what the "factory of the future" will look like. As businesses begin to rely on remote work to stay resilient and flexible, one might feel that maintenance is a slightly lagging area. Manufacturers and suppliers will use augmented reality to train shop floor workers on everything from safety to equipment setup.
More experienced employees can also use the technology to oversee multiple locations or provide virtual assistance - virtual maintenance supervision. This is an invitation for remote maintenance and decentralized repair, and businesses will be happy to apply it.
Match Made in Heaven: The combination of additive manufacturing and maintenance
Additive manufacturing, perhaps better known as "3D printing," will be used to instantly print replacement parts. Once the technician finds the fault, or the machine diagnoses the fault, a new part can be printed and replaced.
This will be a game changer in several ways, starting with better inventory management. Managers can finally begin to ease concerns about understocking and overstocking, choosing some parts over others because of space constraints. But most importantly, additive manufacturing will bring us closer to our ultimate goal of zero downtime.
