You watch as the plant manager pulls up the plant analytics on his tablet and quickly drills down into the failing pump, showing its expected failure date. He then pulls up a display of all plant devices that need to be serviced within the next month.
Having just arrived in the future, knowing nothing about it, you’re amazed by how analytics software now can see into the future with enough clarity to predict downtime issues. Twenty years ago, you think, the plant was still doing calendar-based maintenance. Workers couldn’t predict anything, and they often found themselves fixing the same re-occurring problems.
You’re also surprised by just how easily information is now accessed. For example, the plant manager can search his operations for answers — such as machine health or key performance indicators (KPIs) as if he were searching the internet. He even can ask his tablet questions verbally, such as how long the next batch will take to produce, and the software responds with answers.
Automotive: Robots Save Your Back (and More)
Who knew robots could be so intuitive — and so helpful?
As you stumble out of your slumber and onto the plant floor, you are amazed by how seamlessly and safely robots now are woven into production processes.
Approaching the assembly area, you don’t see a gate around the robots to keep people at a safe distance. Instead, as you walk closer, the robot slows down and then comes to a stop as you stand next to it.
But it’s not just the proximity of the robots — it’s what they’re doing. Before drifting into your decades-long dream, you were worried about the safety implications of the heavy lifting being done by the plant’s older workers. You also worried that the plant wasn’t going to find skilled talent to replace those workers when they retired.
Now, robots do all the heavy lifting. This helps keep production running, even during labor or skills shortages. It also improves ergonomics for workers, reducing their exposure to repetitive strains.
All this is made possible by a combination of safety technologies, including robots, sensors and controllers.
Life Sciences: A Multi-Modal Mobile Makeover
Is this even the same production facility? You look around to see that the sea of fixed, stainless steel biopharma machinery has been replaced by modular, mobile equipment.
It looks like a coordinated dance: Workers are moving equipment throughout the facility and repositioning it with simple plug-and-play connectivity. Instead of large batch runs, you see workers making smaller, more targeted batches or even single drugs that are personalized to one person’s physiology.
You intently follow one operator as she pushes a piece of mobile equipment from one production area to another and then connects it to a docking station. The control system detects the equipment connection automatically, identifies its IP address and confirms that it’s in the right location. The operator then uses a tablet to guide her through connecting the right tubes to the appropriate points on the transfer panel.
Making all this happen is a modern distributed control system (DCS) with an open and unmodified Ethernet backbone. The DCS can confirm that the right mobile equipment is connected and allows control only when equipment is in the right location. It also allows workers to scan materials to confirm they’re used with the right equipment.
Thin-client technology makes mobile visualization possible by recognizing an operator’s location and allowing access to screens and applications that are relevant to that location. And asset-management software securely and centrally manages production.
Make This Future a Reality
These future factory scenarios aren’t simply theory or fantasy. They’re the inevitable outcomes of adopting the control and information technologies that are available today as part of an Industry 4.0 strategy. And they’re closer than you might think.
For example, new controllers with onboard computing can help you tie production more closely to customer orders. And new analytics software allows facility workers to quickly and easily access analytics that aren’t displayed on their dashboard. Even a natural-language search can be used to find information in their plant.
Forward-thinking companies already are beginning to make these future factories a reality to gain all the competitive advantages that they offer. This is why every organization should be thinking about how their Industry 4.0 strategy will help them compete better not just today, but in the decades to come.
