INDUSTRY 4.0 & IIoT


THE COVID-19 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION


Just over a year in, and the ‘Roaring 20’s’ look set to be a decade of digital change. Eddie Storan, head of global service, Domino Printing Sciences, examines how COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalisation of modern production lines


suggests that, in some instances, historic barriers to digital transformation have been broken down out of necessity, including the need for executive approval; lack of time, skills, and lack of engineering support. The beginning of the pandemic saw


companies invest in videoconferencing tools to enable remote working. With service engineers physically unable to attend customer production lines, such applications have provided an option for remote assistance and virtual service visits for the resolution of technical issues. In Domino’s case, virtual customer service


and support have been critical during the pandemic. Domino’s Indian subsidiary used audio-visual applications to carry out entire printer installations remotely, with 43 remote installations successfully completed during April and May 2020 alone. While Domino service support staff in China have provided customers with remote installations, troubleshooting, and technical support. The team has also developed online training to provide in-depth, easy-to-understand product operation instructions. As a company, Domino has also developed


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tools to allow customers to experience virtual product demonstrations, and laser substrate sampling – both of which are key to the customer journey. In addition to adopting existing technologies


t the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations within all industries – from healthcare to retail,


construction, and education – adopted new digital technologies in order to remain operational within increasingly tight lockdown restrictions. Twelve months on and organisations have


continued to adapt and grow, with what were once decade-long digital transformation initiatives progressing at unparalleled speed. It has even been suggested that electronics manufacturing could witness five years’ worth of development in the next 18 months – all as a result of production challenges brought about by COVID-191


. The pandemic has triggered a mini


industrial revolution; albeit one with a twist. Previous industrial revolutions were largely driven by process efficiency, revenue, growth – and, ultimately, business survival – with an adoption curve that played itself out over years, even decades. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the main short- term driver has been survival, with the time to adjust being just a matter of months. The generally increasing rate of change brought about through digitalisation has sparked a ‘commercial Darwinism’, with business adaptability at its core, rather than performance improvement.


8 SEPTEMBER 2021 | PROCESS & CONTROL The pandemic has served to emphasise the


benefits of technology in helping manufacturers and brands to cope with fluctuations in supply and demand, enable social distancing and remote working in manufacturing sites, and to operate effectively with a significantly reduced workforce. Indeed, at the height of the pandemic in 2020, McKinsey reported that around a quarter of industry-leading manufacturing firms in Asia were fast-tracking automation programmes in order to cope with worker shortages2


. Industry 4.0 has been at the forefront of the


revolution, with manufacturers realising the benefit of automated solutions in reducing error and maximising efficiency on production lines, while cloud-based systems have emerged as a solution for real-time remote monitoring and visibility of production line performance. Video conferencing has become the norm, and we are now seeing the development of new augmented reality applications, which provide accessible remote solutions for machine installations, customer support, and product maintenance. In a recent digital engagement report from , 97% of respondents stated COVID-19


Twilio3


had sped up their digital transformation, with some reporting that their company’s digital communications strategies have been accelerated by up to six years. The report also


in novel ways, COVID-19 has also sped up development of app-based advanced software and services through mixed reality (MR) technology. One particular application of MR, augmented reality (AR), now has an expected market forecast of $70–$75 billion in revenue by 20234


. AR mobile or web-based visual support


apps have emerged, to enable service engineers to connect with customers on a production line and use video to investigate the area in question to allow for faster resolution of the issue. If a problem requires a simple fix, a customer may be guided to complete the maintenance themselves, or, an engineer can be dispatched with complete knowledge of the issue at hand. Such applications lend themselves to more


than just issue resolution; when it comes to coding and marking, the machine itself may not have a technical fault – the customer may just need to make slight adjustments to calibration. By using AR, it’s easy to see the quality of the print and advise them on how to make changes and improvements, with matters resolved in minutes rather than days. Embracing such technologies means


remote connectivity is now the norm, and the last year has made people aware of the many other benefits too. In the past, customers might have been reluctant to consider remote


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