Data is the new gold and Industry4.0 (I4) sensors enable real-time process optimisation and business be smart with their data collected. The landscape of I4 sensors are so wide and broad, they act as a nerve centre for everyday operations. Sensing identity, geometry, distance, environment, location and detecting changes of status bring together comprehensive and contextual information to improve both products and processes.
Imagine Ms. Lillyanna purchased ten packs of chips online, and the package with a Radio Frequency tag (RFID) is automatically picked from a store shelf by an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) navigating the shop floor with an integrated indoor LiDAR scanner.
The purchased chips are then placed onto the shipping pallet with a deep learning-enabled Vision Packing System. The dimensions and weight of the shipping pallet are scanned to ensure safe loading to to the truck. The telematics in the truck picks the best possible route to the parcel consolidation centre where all RFID tags on the pallet get read to keep count of items moving in and out. The parcel of chips is categorised bya high-speed camera sorting system reading the route number using Optical Characteristics Recognition (OCR) technology. The last mile delivery is hereby fulfilled using a handheld wearable device to enable full chain of custody. Finally the chips areon an outdoor autonomous cart powered with Radar and LiDAR technology to navigate to Ms. Lillyanna’s shipping address.
This ecosystem of sensors producing enormous amount of data throughout the product lifecycle is the new gold. Online shopping demands Continuous, Autonomous, Real-Time, and Efficient (CARE) data. With newer business models such as Omni-channel shopping, shared resource economies being part of everyday human life, the CARE data becomes the new fuel. Companies that are utilising CARE data leads the market with the implementation of Industry 4.0. In a manufacturing line, this leads to the production of lot size one, while at the same time, it is helping companies who are mass-producing. These bi-polar business objectives such as lot size one versus mass-production need an almost similar type of Industry 4.0 sensor data. On the one hand, smart sensor data is analysed to customise the production process, on the other hand, it is analysed to minimise waste.
Industry 4.0 smart sensors also play a critical role in preventative maintenance. The use case could be as simple as an alert or notification to the user during a fault or a fully autonomous distributed decision making system at the machine level. The variety of use cases makes it attractive tor SME as well as enterprise scale manufacturers. Preventative maintenance becomes so critical in the context of lot size one or craft manufacturing. Craft manufacturing requires the machine availability to almost one hundred percent and downtime to zero. Craft manufactures make-to-orderand generally hold negligent stock. This is also adapted by some lean mass manufacturers. I4 data from smart sensors provide a critical view of the likelihood of failure in manufacturing process and equipment. I4 Data enables adoption of factory automation to various skill levels of operators. Custom systems, programmable settings are designed to cater specific expertises. Smart sensor data enables gamification of manufacturing. I4 data is being used by Virtual Reality (VR) training systems, operator feedback support and compliance monitoring. The future of manufacturing based on Industry 4.0 sensor technology will provide infinite options with zero pain. Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven sensors will collaborate, share data to optimise inventory, while maximising the production efficiencies. And we at SICk believe this is the new wave driving the future of manufacturing.
About the author
Praveen Kannan aka. Mr. Industry 4.0 is an avid technology blogger and leads a team of application engineers and product managers at SICK Australia and New Zealand. SICK is a market leader in Industry 4.0 technology with a portfolio of over 40,000 products generating data, which impacts human life.
