What is Industry 4.0?
This post is also available in : Spanish
What is Industry 4.0, and why will it really change the way we work?
What is industry 4.0? Industry 4.0 represents a series of changes so deep in the productive structures, that it has been considered synonymous of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. That is what we will be getting into.
The concept, promoted at the beginning of the present decade by the German government, reflects the interconnection of several technologies in order to achieve a productive process closer to the real needs of customers, more efficient, more rational and, ultimately, smarter.
In this article, we will answer the question “what is Industry 4.0?”, through some of the main features that define it. Let’s go!
What is Industry 4.0?: An Overview
The Industry 4.0 concept represents a new way of creating and organizing the means of production, in which the possibilities of new technologies would be used to create a more efficient and flexible production process.
Within the new technologies or techniques that would come into play, there are some such as Big Data (use of large amounts of data), Artificial Intelligence (which would be responsible for processing and taking advantage of the flood of information provided by the Big Data through algorithms) or the Internet of Things (which could be used to connect multiple devices).
Very close to the concept of Industry 4.0, we would find Smart Factory, which would represent the factory that uses the previous technologies (and some others) in order to work in a more rational, efficient and eco-friendly way which is also linked to the real needs of the users
What does this mean? Maybe we can see it better through an example of what would be considered a smart factory, that we might see in the near future.
This type of factory would be able, for example, to know in real time and thanks to the interconnection with the intelligent systems of the company, the levels of both demand and stock of certain products.
Interconnection would allow to find out the levels of production both in that factory and other factories, as well as the stock available in warehouses.
In addition, the information would not be limited only to specific moments, but it could be foreseen, through predictive technologies based on artificial intelligence, the evolution of the needs for the following hours or days. Similarly, the production process would be able to be adapted to those needs, which in turn would include interconnection with other key components of the production process, such as material supply.
Is that not enough? Well, there is still more to come. The intelligent factory would be able to meet the customization needs of the users, for which it would use technologies such as 3D printing. Even other technologies, such as augmented reality, would be used to increase the quality of products and efficiency at work.
Of course, this immense interconnected process would enjoy great autonomy, so that intelligent systems would be responsible for most of the work, leaving human intervention for very specific tasks or just supervision.
Furthermore, the factory itself, equipped with multiple sensors, would be able to self-diagnose the status of the technology involved, recommending the removal of devices that could fail and even suggesting options for improvement.
But that is not all. In addition, the smart factory would be able to rationalize the use of energy, maximize safety (both physically and technologically) and respect the environment.
Some conclusions and a little monitoring
What is Industry 4.0 after all? As we have seen, it is a broad concept that encompasses a large number of technologies. Nowadays – and although obviously the levels of development of our previous example have not yet been reached – there are already many companies that are trying to make their factories smarter every day. We could say that Industry 4.0 is a child that is taking his first steps and there is a very promising future before him. It is not very risky to say that Industry 4.0 will be a generalized reality within a few years, and that its introduction will involve a transformation, not only for the industrial world, but also of the economic world.
So, what is Industry 4.0? Now that we have an idea about what it is, what about talking a little about monitoring?
Monitoring systems are responsible for surpervising technology (hardware, networks and communications, operating systems or applications, for example) in order to analyze its performance, and to detect and alert about possible errors.
If there is one thing we know is that, in Industry 4.0, technology will have a massive presence. Both through computer systems and the integration of the Internet of Things, the presence of technology will be intense and will have to be supervised to check that it works properly.
One of the things we know about IoT monitoring is that the flexibility of monitoring systems is something to be taken into account. And that leads us to Pandora FMS.
Because Pandora FMS is a flexible monitoring software, capable of monitoring devices, infrastructures, applications, services and business processes.
And now you may need more specific answers. Do you have specific needs and want to know exactly what Pandora FMS can monitor? The best way to find out is to ask the team that created it and improves it every day, do you not think so? You can do this in a very simple way, thanks to the contact form that can be found at the following address: https://pandorafms.com/contact/
Before doing it, and if you want to know more about the IoT monitoring of Pandora FMS, you can have a look at this link: https://pandorafms.com/iot-monitoring/
Do not hesitate to contact the Pandora FMS team and send us all your questions. We will be happy to assist you!