[9 major technologies, defining true industrial 4.0] Since the industrial revolution, technological advances have drastically promoted the development of industrial productivity. The emergence of the steam engine provided the 19th century industrial revolution with physical kinetic energy that manpower could not match. At the beginning of the 20th century, the spread of electricity made it possible for large-scale manufacturing. In the 1970s, manufacturing automation technology greatly increased industrial production efficiency. Each of these three wave of science and technology has completely changed the face of industrial production. Let us call it Industry 1.0, Industry 2.0, and Industry 3.0. Since then, however, the manufacturing industry has slowed down. Compared with epoch-making innovations such as IT, mobile communications, and e-commerce, there has been no breakthrough in industrial technology in the past 30 years. Nowadays, we finally usher in the fourth wave of industrial innovation. This is Industry 4.0, which is based on nine major categories of technology. In this industrial transformation, sensors, machines, workpieces and IT systems will be integrated in the entire value chain. This manufacturing system, in which physical devices and the Internet are connected, can collect and analyze data, predict errors, and continuously adjust itself to adapt to changing conditions. In terms of production efficiency, in the next 5-10 years, more and more companies will adopt Industrial 4.0 technology, and the variable costs other than the production materials will be reduced by 15-25%. The industrial component manufacturers will achieve maximum production efficiency. Increase (20-30%), for example, automakers' productivity will increase by 10-20%. Industry 4.0 technology will greatly increase manufacturing efficiency, promote economic restructuring, improve labor employment structure, and ultimately change the competitive landscape between companies and even countries. Many of the nine major technologies in Industry 4.0 are actually used in manufacturing, but Industry 4.0 technology integrates these technologies into a complete production process that will change the relationship between suppliers, manufacturers and consumers. Relationships, and the relationship between people and machines. Big Data and Data Analysis Technology For manufacturing, big data analysis is still new, but it can already help companies improve product quality, save energy, and improve equipment performance. In the context of Industry 4.0, the collection and analysis of different data sources (equipment, systems, and enterprises) will become standard equipment for future real-time business decisions. Semiconductor manufacturers collect data from the production process, which helps it to predict faulty chips early in the production process, thereby improving the quality of production. Automatic robot technology Many production industries have adopted robots for production, but today's robotics technology has become more powerful. Automatic robots are not only more flexible and smart, they can also communicate and interact with each other, and even have the ability to learn new skills. These new robots not only far exceed the current industrial robots in performance, but also greatly reduce the cost. Robots provided by robot equipment manufacturers have the ability to communicate with each other. These robots can work together to adjust their actions according to the processes on the production line. These robots also carry advanced sensors and control units and can work closely with humans. ABB launched YuMi, a two-armed robot that can work side-by-side with workers. They have a computer vision system that not only identifies parts but also ensures safe interaction with people. Simulation technology In the field of engineering design, many companies have adopted 3D simulation technology to design the structure and materials of products. In the future, analog technology will be extended to a wider range. People can use real-time data to mimic the physical world and put new products into a virtual production environment. Before the actual production, the company can test and optimize these new products, thus reducing the time for equipment assembly and debugging and improving product quality. Siemens has developed a virtual machine system that can imitate machines with real data. This system can reduce equipment assembly and commissioning time up to 80%. Horizontal and vertical system integration technology Most of today's company's IT systems are not fully integrated. Companies, suppliers and customers are often fighting each other. Within the company, engineering design, production, and functional departments are often isolated from each other. Even in this aspect of engineering design, few companies can do design-manufacture-automation at three points. But with the development of Industry 4.0 technology, companies, departments, and capabilities will become more integrated, and a data network that spans the company will truly automate the value chain. Dassault Systèmes and Boost AeroSpace have set up a cooperation platform called AirDesign for the European aerospace and defense industry. The platform is built on a private cloud, and participating partners can carry out complex cooperation and data exchange through the platform. Internet of Things Technology The number of interconnected products with built-in sensors and computers is still limited. However, with the advent of the Internet of Things and the unification of connection standards, more and more products will be connected to each other. At that time, products and equipment located in different geographical locations will be able to interact and communicate with each other and be centrally controlled by the central processor. The Internet of Things will realize the decentralization of decision-making, and interconnected devices will be able to perform automatic analysis and decision making and respond to changes in the environment in real time. Rexroth, a subsidiary of the Bosch Group, has launched an automated production system. With radio coding, workstations in different locations can perceive the production steps that each product needs to perform and automatically execute the production process. Network Security Technology With the advent of the Industry 4.0 era, previously isolated devices will be interconnected and industrial systems and production lines will be integrated. By then, the importance of cybersecurity will increase significantly. Safe and reliable network communication and identity identification and access management systems will become crucial. Last year, several large industrial equipment manufacturers in Europe have already cooperated with cybersecurity companies in the form of joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. Cloud computing technology Many companies have started cloud applications that use functional and data analytics. In the future, more production data and functions will be installed in the cloud, providing more data-related services for manufacturing. As technology evolves, future monitoring and control processes may also migrate to the cloud. Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) Technology At present, some companies have begun to adopt 3D printing technology, but most of them are in the experimental stage or used to manufacture independent components. The future 3D printing technology will be widely applied to small batch production and mass customization. 3D printing technology will greatly reduce the company's inventory costs and logistics costs. Aircraft manufacturers have begun to use 3D printing technology to reduce the weight of aircraft, saving the use of rare materials such as titanium. Reality enhancement technology The augmented reality system can assist workers in many aspects of production, such as picking up accessories in a warehouse or sending maintenance instructions via handheld devices. These systems are still in the experimental period, but in the future these technologies will provide workers with real-time information to help them make real-time decisions and improve production processes. For example, future workers can equip devices such as reality-enhanced glasses. When they examine a device, the computer sends the cause of the problem and maintenance instructions to the worker's glasses. Another application is a virtual training system. Siemens has developed a power station virtual operation training system for Comos software. Operators wear reality-enhanced glasses to train them in emergency situations.
April 14, 2023