INDUSTRY 4.0 / SMART FACTORIES
centralised software layer, rather than by dedicated hardware. A core limitation for the manufacturing
world currently is that most of our factories physical components for control, and far away from being fully digital. While Industry 4.0 has improved
across all areas of the mill. Another great example is a trial we did at a
At its most basic level, predictive
maintenance involves sensors being attached to motors and gearboxes, to monitor things such as vibration levels, and identify problems before they become major failures. On a deeper level, however, the most
advanced predictive maintenance software can help companies see potential issues long before they occur. It aids with the scheduling of maintenance, and helps to ensure downtime is minimal, or undertaken outside of operating hours.
for replacements you don’t need and repairs you could’ve avoided, all whilst potentially annoying customers and stakeholders due to an unreliable production line. One of our clients, Whitworth Bros,
found the value of predictive maintenance software APPredict, which monitors the health of gearmotors via wireless sensors.
Whitworth Bros supplies a wide range of and leading food manufacturers, making After an initial trial of the software,
of predictive maintenance, the Goole site’s engineering supervisor, Benjamin Howell, noted standards had been raised, and
major luxury car manufacturer’s paint shop, where we implemented our conditioning monitoring solution DriveRadar. We monitored six key drives on their
three spray booth conveyors, and began to spot patterns in the data. One conveyor consistently required more current to run, It’s a simple issue, but left unchecked, it can increase energy use and eventually cause mechanical failure. This kind of insight they become big ones. With over 80 per cent of industrial
businesses in the UK experiencing unplanned downtime in the last three years, losing an average of 49 working hours per year, it’s vital that proper planning is put into place to ensure production line disruption is minimal, with predictive maintenance proving a key solution.
REACHING BEYOND INDUSTRY 4.0 Despite the now easy availability of predictive maintenance software and robotics, the manufacturing sector is still falling behind other industries when it comes to complete digital transformation. If manufacturers really want to establish
themselves as innovators and leaders over the next decade or so, they need to reach
environment, where manufacturing is primarily controlled and optimised by a
modularity, recent supply crises have exposed major weaknesses in operations, namely a lack of transparency on stock availability and forecasting, and an inability to quickly reschedule production when shortages occur. This is the consequence of factories designed on the assumption that materials will always be available.
optimisation are driven by software from the
technological component of these factories, focusing on creating systems that make people more effective, by allowing access to supplier used. With skilled labour shortages growing,
tasks, helping to reduce deployment time, and ensuring newer staff members can quickly get to grips with operations, minimising potentially lengthy training periods. The next step beyond this is utilising AI
agents, software programmes that use automatically generate and implement process improvements in fully digital factories. This is already happening in China
and will certainly spread globally. If the UK manufacturing industry wants to be seen as a leader in innovation, it’s time to act now, and start implementing digital transformation before we get even further behind.
Sew-Eurodrive UK
www.sew-eurodrive.co.uk
FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS | OCTOBER 2025 13
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