Industry 4.0: Simulations, IoT, and AR in Manufacturing
The fourth industrial revolution, popularly known as Industry 4.0, is powered by various technologies, including simulations, the Internet of Things, and augmented reality.
Industry 4.0 presents the world with applications meant to make life simpler. For manufacturing companies, simpler life can mean a whole lot of things. It could point towards easily identifying problems with your machines, predicting future problems, reducing accident rates, using analytics to identify the profitability of each machine, among others.
Incorporating simulations, IoT, and AR in manufacturing plays a crucial role in achieving industrial automation. To a great extent, one could argue that Industry 4.0 has helped unify operational technology (OT) with Information Technology (IT).
Read on to the end to learn more about the technologies fueling Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing sector.
Industry 4.0: Simulations, IoT, and AR in Manufacturing
FORCES BEHIND INDUSTRY 4.0
Industry 4.0 cannot become a reality on its own. Instead, it is powered by many forces such as autonomous robots, big data analytics, augmented reality, the Internet of Things, simulations, additive manufacturing, predictive demand, and bottlenecking production.
This section focuses only on three of these, which are the major players. That’s not to downplay the other elements that are helping make Industry 4.0.
SIMULATION FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 IN MANUFACTURING
Simulation refers to imitating the real-world system or process over time. Such imitations enable experts to closely evaluate real-world processes or systems in controlled environments.
Industrial organizations that are yet to explore this technology in their manufacturing process lose opportunities to study their systems before deployment. Using simulations can be beneficial, especially considering the high costs incurred in commissioning new manufacturing plants and processes.
Some of the benefits that you can anticipate from simulation in Industry 4.0 include:
· Revealing manufacturing bottlenecks and opportunities that can deliver more throughput
· Revealing opportunities to save costs, including direct and indirect labor
· Exploring the performance prediction of value streams or production facilities
· Enhances process quality through the emulation of realistic processes
Simulation is one of the important keys for unlocking the full potential of Industry 4.0. Simulation tools mostly work in a 3D environment to help verify the manufacturing process. They make it possible for manufacturing organizations to virtually validate manufacturing concepts for the lifecycle of a new product. That makes it possible to quickly launch high-quality products.
IOT FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 FOR MANUFACTURING
Achieving factory automation does not come on a silver platter. It requires ongoing innovations which set the industry on the right path to success.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one such innovation that has proven highly beneficial to the manufacturing process. The IoT market size in manufacturing continues to grow and is projected to hit $994 million by 2023.
The use of IoT in the manufacturing process enables different outcomes like supply chain management, quality management, predictive maintenance, among others. Additionally, real-time monitoring of assets and connected operational intelligence boost the manufacturing process.
You can best understand the interaction between IoT and manufacturing by considering Porter’s Five Forces. In this model, IoT companies take the position of suppliers while manufacturing firms are consumers/buyers.
Suppliers (manufacturing companies) have higher bargaining power because they can take in low product differentiation and high product quality. The supply-demand is still low while the growth rate is skyrocketing. That implies the key IoT stakeholders for the manufacturing process will continue to face stiff competition.
Two major factors related to IoT in manufacturing are real-time asset monitoring and cloud-based deployment.
Real-time asset monitoring empowers manufacturing companies to monitor the changes taking place in their firms, thereby reducing defects and enhancing operational efficiency.
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) IN MANUFACTURING
Simply called AR, augmented reality combines real and virtual worlds generated by the computer. It starts with capturing a real image that gets infused or augmented with different layers of digital information.
AR is not the same as virtual reality, an immersive experience that closes the real world. In the case of VR, a computer-generated video is superimposed on the real-world video to give the impression that the computer-generated objects have fixed locations in the real world.
Using VR in manufacturing would be limiting because of the obstruction of real-world interaction. Thanks to augmented reality, it becomes possible to have a seamless and natural perception of employee movement. The technology has proven useful in the manufacturing process in terms of measuring changes, envisioning the end product, and seeking out dangerous working conditions.
Manufacturing AR empowers manufacturers to get the minute details of the worker’s current environment. For instance, they can see a piece of equipment and the current operational temperature. The worker can determine from this information that the equipment is hot and should not be held with bare hands. Augmented reality in manufacturing is one of the most effective ways for factory workers to understand what is happening. They can tell which machines have broken down, restricted areas of the factory, and much more.
NRTC IS CHAMPIONING AUTOMATION, A KEY ELEMENT IN INDUSTRY 4.0
At NRTC, we have made it our mission to deliver automation in the manufacturing sector. Simulation, the Internet of Things, and augmented reality foster the growth of Industry 4.0 as we make key steps that ensure automation becomes part and parcel of your process.
Contact us to learn more about our engineering services. We would be glad to walk with you every step of your journey towards embracing Industry 4.0.