Nowadays, in the IT and Manufacturing fields there is a concept that resounds everywhere:
every economist, politician, politic, journalist, analyst, expert, engineer talks about it using
any type of media like television, radio, seminars, summits workshops and so forth.
We are talking about Industry 4.0 and every terms linked to it, such as Smart Factory, Smart
Manufacturing, Big Data, Internet of Things, etc.
Industry 4.0 originates in Germany in 2011 from a project of the German government to
promote the computerization and innovation of manufacturing. In these years, German
companies have put into practice this theory with successful results, becoming the symbol
of Smart Factory. Italy, despite has started to talk about Industry 4.0 some years later, it is
ready to reach the same results. However, this can be possible only if the Italian companies
open themselves to innovation; and Italians, on subjects like flexibility, innovation and
technology, can teach to other rather than learn.
In this white paper, Open Data – Italian software house that develops IT tools for the
management of manufacturing operations – wants to highlight the meaning of Industry 4.0
giving to it a practical connotation that can transform this theory, which seems so far from
reality, into an approach that will be the focus of companies’ management in the next
years.
Let’s start with the definition of Industry 4.0. What does it mean?
Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth Industrial Revolution.
After the steam, electricity and IT, this time is Internet
that is going to totally change the production
system. Thanks to the so called Internet of Things
and cyber physical systems, it is estimated that, in
2020, at least 60 billion intelligent objects will be
online.
This is the heart of the Smart Factory: the real time
connection between humans, machines and
objects; a concept that is far away from the
innovative process Information Technology of the
last century…
The challenge of the Smart Factory is to take on the variability and the uncertainty of the
entities involved in the supply chain, from the supplier to the customer, by taking into
account all the entities, conditions and situations like production line, times, breakdowns,
delay, change in technology, and so on.
A Smart Factory shall be able to adapt itself in real time to the market requests in order to
become as competitive as possible. In order to obtain this, a fluid and constant
communication is necessary: from the market, to determine what has to be manufactured,
and from the floor to coordinate the activities and to promptly react to unexpected events.
In this environment, every cyber physical entity will be able to work intelligently and perform
the required activity at the maximum efficiency.
How can this turn into practice? What does implementing Industry 4.0 mean?
At first glance, the concepts above mentioned can be fascinating but can remain very
theoretical. This makes the understanding of what implementing Industry 4.0 in your factory
mean very difficult.
Industry 4.0 is so theoretical, to seem a dream. Actually, this is a concrete project that has
been already applied – even partially – in the Italian companies.
Just like every revolution, the implementation of these concepts offers new perspectives
and possibilities that have to be studies to continue and improve the research,
development and innovation process.
In order to reach Industry 4.0 concepts it is important to:
 Automatize the production process such as machines, sensors, measurement tools,
equipment, terminals, printers, and so forth, that shall be all connected to the network.
 Equip operators with PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc. that have to be connected to the
network and be constantly online.
 Abolish “Pens and Papers” to transmit information, that means: to avoid sending
information like designs, instructions, notes to operators on papers, reporting any
information by filling up paper document and identifying any type of material trough
labels, etc.
 Finally, it is fundamental to use an IT system to connect machines, people and
information systems in order to reach the integration that is the basis of Industry 4.0
concepts.
This IT system is MES (Manufacturing Execution System).
A MES is an IT system able to use and integrate production, material, quality, process and
maintenance data in one single platform that, in real time, sends data to assets and
receives data from them. Being able to manage integrated data in a single database
allows information not to be passively recorded, but to transform it in an input to cause
further events.
Starting from the sales orders, a MES can manage the entire production process by
involving different processes, departments and resources, up to the shipping of the finished
product. MES has been always considered the missing link to fill the gap between the
business level (ERP and Business Applications) and the executive one (the shop floor).
In order to make concrete examples, a MES should:
 Manage the production orders, scheduling the production operations by taking into
account materials availability and resource capacity and generate and send purchase
orders if needed;
 Send work instructions and tasks to operators and automation system either for the
execution of production process or for the automatic picking of the necessary material;
 Receive production data, such as quantity and scraps, and simultaneously cause events
to:
- Maintenance, to signal anomalies that shall be repaired based on the
breakdown reason detected by the control system,
- Quality, to execute control test when reaching a determined machine
production time, quantity or when some process parameters go out of tolerance,
- Warehouse, to supply the production line without going out of stock and being
forced to stop the production.
 Make production process information available through the network and the usage of
graphical charts and dashboards.
This allows a factory to be transformed into a Smart Factory, a dynamic and intelligent
company where the events start autonomously, automatically and in real time.
Conclusions
Industry 4.0 represents the future, the fourth industrial revolution that will allow companies to
combine productivity and quickness in responding to market, by making your system more
productive and competitive. It is clear that who will not undertake this path will be excluded
by the global competition.
How far is your company from Industry 4.0?
We invite you to contact Open Data srl to receive further information about Industry 4.0 and
to understand what the best practices are to allow your company to reach them.
About Open Data
Open Data is a leading software house specialized in the development and
implementation of MES (Manufacturing Execution System) for manufacturing companies.
With more than 300 customers and over 30 certified partners worldwide, Opera MES is
one of the most used solution in the market.
Since 1994, Open Data has always dedicated to the development and implementation
of IT solutions for the management, automation and real time control of production.
Thanks to more than twenty years of experience in this field, Open Data can now
implement MES projects and transmit all its knowledge to the distributors that decide to
rely on Opera for their MES projects.
www.opendatasrl.it
OPEN DATA SRL
Via De’ Giudei 21
40050 Funo di Argelato
BOLOGNA (ITALY)
www.opendatasrl.it
[email protected]
Marketing Team