Introduction
Industry 4.0 was in full swing in manufacturing companies before the pandemic and continues
unabated, as top business priorities for the sector include improving operational efficiencies,
optimizing supply chains and improving the use of business analytics for decision-making.
And manufacturers are counting on technology to help them achieve those goals, including
Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and automation, digital twins, AI and ML.
These are some of the top-line results from a recent survey of more than 200 IT executives
in manufacturing companies. The survey, conducted by DemandScience in collaboration
with Comcast Business, shows many of the priorities are intertwined. The goal of improving
operational efficiencies, for example, will rely on improved use of analytics. And most all the
priorities in some form feed into a goal familiar to companies in any industry: minimizing costs.
To meet their priorities, manufacturers expect a number of technologies will play a crucial role, including Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and automation, digital twins, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).
The Industry 4.0 journey is not without its
challenges, however, including a misalignment between IT and business strategies, and a lack of agility. They also face network problems including bandwidth constraints, reliability issues and obsolete infrastructure.
None of these issues are insurmountable, however. In this paper, we’ll examine both the priorities and the challenges, while highlighting the technologies and supporting infrastructure manufacturers expect will help them overcome those challenges and meet their goals.
Goals such as increased efficiency, optimization and improved use of analytics are all foundations of Industry 4.0, which is all about putting all the computers and networks of the Industry 3.0 era to more effective use.
Survey respondents’ priorities reflect an intention to do just that. In fact, many are intertwined. “Improved analytics” for example, will likely play a role in meeting all the other goals, as manufacturers seek to put data to effective use in all corners of their businesses. Similarly, operational efficiencies will lead to reduced costs and forging new strategic alliances will help promote growth.
The Manufacturing Technology Picture
The drive to Industry 4.0 is even more evident in the choices of technology that manufacturing IT execs are planning
to implement.
Leading the way is IoT technologies, cited by 41% of respondents. IoT includes all the sensors and instrumentation that is driving the smart factory of the future. It plays a role in numerous other technologies in which manufacturers are interested as well, including robotics and automation, cited by 35% of respondents (tied for second with upgrade cyber security solutions).
Together, IoT and robotics/ automation go a long way toward helping manufacturers deliver on the smart factory. Two additional and related underpinnings cited by respondents include:
29%
Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for data insights and automation
27%Predictive
maintenance
Predictive maintenance relies on IoT technology such as sensors as well as AI/ML to optimize
maintenance in manufacturing. Not long ago, machines were maintained strictly according
to a calendar-based schedule – whether they needed it or not. Predictive maintenance
enables AI/ML algorithms, working from an established baseline of “normal” behavior,
to identify when a machine is straying from that baseline, and thus needs attention.
Maintaining machines only when they actually need it promises to deliver big operational
savings for manufacturers, while also promoting improved reliability and uptime.
Nearly a third of respondents (30%) also expressed interest in digital twin technology. Digital
twin also holds great promise to help manufacturers cut costs and increase efficiency with
its ability to represent physical systems in software. Companies can then conduct what-if
scenarios on the software model to determine, for example, what effect a change to the
operating speed of a machine will have on the finished product – without the risk of actually
making the change to the physical machine.
These are some of the same technologies included in Gartner’s top 10 trends in manufacturing back in 2019. Given Gartner’s tendency to be well ahead of the technology curve, that means they are just now factoring into plans for most manufacturing companies. Digital twins, analytics, and autonomous things/robotics were all featured on that list. They are also foundational technologies for trends Gartner continues to site, including the smart factory concept and product personalization.
Facing Down Technology Obstacles
Manufacturers do face obstacles in
implementing digital Industry 4.0
initiatives, some of which have to do purely
with technology while others are more
management-oriented (see Figure 1).
As with the business priorities, many of the
challenges are interrelated. Obsolete network
hardware and software, for example, won’t
be able to support the high speeds inherent
in the latest wired and Wi-Fi networking
standards. That can lead to bandwidth
constraints that limit processing loads,
an issue cited by more than a third
of respondents.
Too heavy a reliance on public internet
networks, especially when combined with that
obsolete network infrastructure, will lead to
unreliable wide-area connectivity, cited as an
issue by 27% of respondents.
Use of disparate networks, cited by 25% of
respondents, is a close cousin to obsolescence.
It reflects piecemeal efforts to address issues
over the years, likely including operational
technology (OT) network infrastructure,
resulting in different networks that don’t
seamlessly talk to one another.
The disparate network issue can also be
viewed as a management-oriented challenge
that reflects the need for an overarching
architecture to drive technology decisions.
Today, that includes the need to integrate IT
and OT networks in order to fully capitalize on
Industry 4.0 initiatives. Two other obstacles
also fall into the management challenge
camp: misalignment between IT and business
strategies, and overworked IT teams.
Overworked IT teams are largely a fact of
life in almost every vertical, with IT talent at a
premium. Adopting managed offerings is a
viable solution (more on that shortly).
The misalignment issue is likely reflective
of a situation where the business
establishes a priority but neglects to put
IT budget behind it.
Manufacturing Technology Imperatives
Survey respondents are apparently getting
the message, as many of the items they
identify as their top recent technology
investments map well to meeting the
requirements ahead of them (see Figure 2).
These investments will help manufacturers
in their quest to create smart factories,
which will be a requirement to delivering
on some of the leading-edge technologies
that experts including Gartner say
manufacturers should be addressing in
the years ahead, including:
- Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).
Such technologies make possible immersive
experiences that speed up product design and development processes. They also enable
in-depth employee training with a realistic
“hands-on” but risk-free environment.
- Augmented analytics will require use of
machine learning and IoT technologies to
analyze production data more quickly,
to drive more speed and efficiency in
operational decisions.
- Product personalization, which will require
manufacturers to implement technologies
including online product configurators,
recommendation engines, 3D scanning
and modeling, smart algorithms that
support dynamic pricing, and flexible
production software.
- Autonomous mobile robots and other
robotic applications will require use of AI to
support automated processes, contributing
to the evolution of smart factories.
Smart Factories Require a Sound Tech Foundation
All of these initiatives will require a strong
technology foundation built on fast, reliable,
secure networks.
It starts with plenty of bandwidth within the
facility, both wired and wireless. That means
supporting the latest networking standards,
such as Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 6 offers about a 30% to
40% speed boost over previous generations,
around 10G bps, and better performance in
congested areas like factory floors.
Such fast, reliable networks are a
fundamental underpinning of a smart
factory. They’re required to support
connections for latency sensitive applications
such as robotics, and to connect the edge
computing infrastructure that supports AI
and many other manufacturing applications.
Similarly fast and reliable wide-area networks
are required to connect manufacturing
facilities to other company sites as well as
to the various cloud services that are
increasingly part of the mix.
Options such as software-defined wide-area
networking (SD-WAN) may well come into
play. SD-WAN offers a more flexible wide area
versus legacy networking, including
application-aware traffic routing and
segmentation so IT teams can prioritize
important applications with adequate
bandwidth. It also enables IT to more easily
analyze traffic patterns to better fine-tune
their network. And it works with whatever
network underlay is the best fit for each
location, including public internet connections,
dedicated Ethernet and 5G cellular.
Strong cybersecurity is also crucial to help
protect all network and IT infrastructure, so
it’s not a surprise to see survey respondents
upping their investments in that area. As
manufacturers seek to unite their IT and
OT environments, those once-closed OT
networks may become internet-connected
for the first time. That opens up a number of
new potential entry points for cyber intruders.
The good news is security capabilities are
often now provided along with network
services, either on an as-a-service basis
or built into the same equipment that
provides network connectivity (or both).
That helps makes security easier to
implement and manage, a key consideration
for manufacturing facilities that may not have
full-time IT and security experts on hand.
Manufacturers need a fast and reliable network to help their facilities
maintain daily production flows and smooth supply chain operations.
Comcast Business can deliver scalable network solutions.
Learn more at https://business.comcast.com/manufacturing