Industry 4.0: Digital Dawn

June 13, 2018 12:10 pm

Dr. Johannes Grobe,
Sr. President Marketing & Sales, Dürr Systems AG
Despite all efforts we can say that the entire industry is still at the dawn of the digital evolution, and this is also valid for IIOT in manufacturing.

Future look for IIoT in manufacturing
Although efforts in production intelligence reach back much longer than the trendy buzzword “Industrial Internet of Things” is used, the beneficial potential for digitisation is still huge. Like note, sounds and bars can be turned into millions of melodies comprehensive, real-time data offer numerous options. Dr. Johannes Grobe, Senior President Marketing & Sales, Dürr Systems AG, says, “To stay in the picture: At the moment we already know simple tunes, but for the IIoT in the entire production process we are working on a symphony with the best outcome for efficient and quality-oriented production. Despite all efforts we can say that the entire industry is still at the dawn of the digital evolution, and this is also valid for IIOT in manufacturing.”

The biggest drivers
The degree of digitisation is closely linked to value creation and consequently those industries that expect the highest benefits will be the biggest drivers, i.e. information and communication technology and mechanical engineering, closely followed by the automotive industry. But this is to be expected beyond 2018.

Dürr’s preparedness in the area of IIoT
Dürr follows several different approaches. Together with leading mechanical engineering firms and software specialist Software AG we have created the ADAMOS IIoT platform. Along with this, the company drives their own developments with a big inhouse team: 70 software and control technology specialists from all divisions of Dürr Systems AG are the digital think tank and work together on new, smart applications.

In the manufacturing process everything is about responsiveness, because responsiveness is the pre-condition for fast and precise reactions in the production process. Grobe explains, “In the beginning we had to take care that all processes and machines become responsive, that they contribute relevant data. Here, we have done a lot. Now, we are sorting and bundling all data to find the best ways to reach the main aims behind all IIOT efforts: avoid downtime, increase production rates, reduce costs, and raise quality. Big Data analysis and IIOT are the way, not the destination.”

Lastly, Grobe states, “We are developing LOXEO, our own digital market place and the smart interface to our customers. Our vision is that with LOXEO we will enable customers not only to analyse individual machine components but also to monitor entire systems. And that there is always easy access to all our applications such as scheduled and predictive maintenance, hotline services, eLearning and training.”