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INDUSTRY 4.0 / SMART FACTORIES Six STageS
The index is a systematic guideline, supporting companies in the integration and continuous improvement of their IT and communication systems. To this end, it defines six successive stages:
1. Computerisation: While the use of IT and process automation has already become the standard, companies still use insular information systems at this stage.
2. Connectivity: Once the individual components are connected, companies have reached the maturity stage of connectivity and implemented digitalisation as defined in this guideline. However, they have not yet achieved full integration between information and operational technologies.
3. Visibility: At this stage, companies start to use sensors for real-time recording of conditions and processes. They produce a digital model of production, a “digital shadow” that shows what is happening at any given point in time.
4. Transparency: Once companies use the digital shadow to identify and understand interactions, they have reached stage 4. To do so, they need to interpret the recorded data in the relevant contexts by applying engineering knowledge. Big data applications are deployed in parallel to business application systems, such as ERP – or MES – systems, to provide a common platform for extensive data analysis.
5. Predictive capacity: To simulate scenarios and evaluate them in terms of their likelihood and consequences, the digital shadow is projected into the future. As a result, companies can anticipate future developments and make the necessary decisions.
6. Adaptability: At the highest stage of maturity, the IT systems will make these decisions independently. At this stage, Industry 4.0 has been realised in full. IT systems initiate the necessary alignment measures automatically and without delay. The extent to which IT systems will be allowed to act autonomously depends on two aspects: first, on the complexity of the decision, and second, on the cost-benefit ratio of automated versus human actions.
MoDular STrucTure
The Maturity Index has a modular structure and covers five functional areas: development, production, logistics, services, and marketing and sales. However, Industry 4.0 is more than the mere connection of cyber-physical systems (CPS), as a company’s corporate culture is equally important to its organisational structure. To address this, the index therefore defines four structural areas:
1. Resources - include a company’s workforce and their competencies, equipment, facilities, tools and products.
2. Information systems - refer to socio- technical systems in which people and technology provide and process data.
3. Organisational structure - covers rules and structures which control a company’s internal and external relationships.
4. Corporate culture - refers to a company’s value system, such as its workforce’s willingness to accept and actively shape change.
The application of the Maturity Index covers
three phases. The first phase is to analyse a company’s current maturity stage, using questionnaires, on-site factory inspections and workshops to provide an overview of the current state of digitalisation. Phase Two involves the definition of specific
goals, including consideration of both the use of digital processes and corporate strategy. A gap analysis then identifies the capabilities and resources that are still needed to achieve these objectives. The final phase sees the experts develop a
digital roadmap to build-up these capabilities, with actions being prioritised on the basis of a cost-benefit matrix. While a smart factory will see reduced risk in
several areas, the range and flexibility of connected interfaces introduces a new set of machinery safety risk issues. The solution to this could be the Maturity Index, as it delivers a step- by-step goal-based approach, so that every single action delivers measurable benefits and the process is traceable at all times.
TÜV SÜD
www.tuvsud.com/uk
DS SMITH LAUNCHES INDUSTRY-LEADING R&D AND INNOVATION CENTRE
D
S Smith has launched its global Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation Centre, ‘R8’. The new facility is an industry-first and
allows DS Smith, its customers, and partners to accelerate the research and development of radically new packaging fulfilment solutions. Located near Birmingham in the UK, the R8 facility includes a 4,000m2
pilot hall, four
laboratories, conditioning chambers, an ideation and design studio, prototyping areas, and collaboration spaces. As well as being the home of DS Smith's Group Innovation and R&D teams, it is intended to spearhead research in manufacturing, maximising on the growing demand for sustainable packaging, and the innovation needed to deliver it.
Stefano Rossi, Chief Executive Officer
(CEO), Packaging Division, DS Smith commented:“Our customers are some of the world’s most iconic FMCG brands, online retailers, and industrial players, so innovation and sustainability are very high on their agenda. Our global R&D and Innovation Centre will facilitate the collaboration that we know is needed to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges. “We will be partnering with customers to
help them transition to the circular economy by focusing on novel packaging solutions that deploy new materials and technologies. Nothing is off the table – we have designed the hub to encourage scrutiny of existing ways of working and explore all the possibilities, especially for service-based offerings in the packaging supply chain.” With R8, DS Smith has created a
collaboration space that allows it to cover the whole innovation spectrum under one roof: from early technology and material development, ideation, and concept development, testing and product development, through to prototyping and customer pilots. Projects will be informed by key industry
drivers rooted in sustainability, supply chains, and data. Smart packaging for tracking and monitoring the supply chain, alternative natural resources in papermaking, reusable fibre-based packaging and technologies, and advanced barrier technology for food and industrial applications, are all areas for exploration.
DS Smith
www.dssmith.com
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