Confused by Industry 4.0? You're not the only one

With advances in technology, industrial manufacturing is moving ahead at breakneck speed. Machines are becoming more efficient due to cutting edge developments in automation that bring improved performance and versatility. This - combined with the development of intelligent robots - means that smart machines are no longer a distant vision in the future.

Today, these advances have been grouped together and are now commonly referred to as Industry 4.0 – which some people consider as being the next industrial revolution.

This focus on Industry 4.0 is often confusing for many customers. Most people can recognise the benefits of adopting an Industry 4.0 approach but “where do I start” is often their first question.   

Some people are also getting increasingly frustrated with all the jargon and Industry 4.0 terminology – which seems to growing at an alarming rate. For example, are the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and “Connected Enterprise” the same as Industry 4.0? What’s considered big data and what’s not? What’s “Digital Production” and the “Individualisation of Products”?

We see Industry 4.0 as being a natural progression towards smarter manufacturing, with smart machines incorporating smart components operating in smart factories. By taking this approach we  help our customers in practical ways, to take a few small steps, to start them on their Industry 4.0 journey.

In many cases the starting point is by adopting advanced sensors to measure and monitor pressure or flow. By logging this performance data you can quickly detect any irregularities in your production process. This data can help you introduce preventative maintenance to minimise unplanned stoppages.

Smart compressed air control

For example we recently exhibited our smart compressed air control - with IO link precision pressure switches at EMO 2019. 

The acquisition of process data is playing an increasingly important role in intelligent metalworking. For this reason, we have now for the first time equipped our ISE70/71 series digital precision pressure switches with IO-Link technology. The intelligent sensors report current pressure values of up to 1.6 MPa, the status of the switching output and important diagnostic information and error warnings to the PLC. The two-line display of the precision pressure switches can be rotated by up to 336° and display setpoint (limit value), hysteresis value, maximum or minimum value and delay time, depending on the user's requirements. With its persistent memory, the ISE70/71 series also reliably backs up its collected data even if the power supply is interrupted.

Safety is key

Safety is also a priority in industry 4.0. SMC has designed a completely new type of two-speed valve with which all common machine operating modes can be safely implemented, from set-up to maintenance. The VZM5-300-CEW20057 series valve combines the operational and safe reduced mode into one component. In addition, the new two-speed valve reliably detects the valve position and transmits it via a fail-safe signal to the higher-level safety PLC - for even greater reliability in man-machine cooperation.