Since almost a decade now, with Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) two major buzzwords are propelling a new hype in industrial and civic environments. IoT covers the networking and digital communication of all relevant entities in a considered domain, being it devices, systems, applications or people, simply all involved “Things”. Industry 4.0 approaches then use the IoT respectively IIoT components to communicate data and to provide as well as optimize cross-functional applications (Henning, 2017).
Among others, the aim of Industry 4.0 is a flexible, market oriented and optimized production area with integrated processes. The major focus is on Just-in-Time logistics and an operational lot size of one, depending on market demand. By that, Industry 4.0 also emphasizes agile, self-learning enterprises (Niederhaus, 2016).
The new approaches with communication-ready elements in combination with a comprehensive network provide masses of data, even in real-time for further processing where required. According to projections, 20 billion connected devices are expected until 2020, gathering data from any sources (Schleede, 2014). Powerful data collection and data storage in combination with analysis tools and transparent user representations are a tremendous playground for new start-up firms. Innovative use of fast developing new technologies, mostly linked to a solid IT-background and flexible working structures are the push in today’s markets for many trendsetting applications (Syska, 2016).
Some industries are more advanced applying digital transformation processes and Industry 4.0 concepts, while others have plausible reasons to progress more carefully. Faster adopting sectors with reasonable business success are obvious in public communication areas using dedicated and mostly mobile Apps. Also, private home sectors, medical applications or public traffic optimizations are examples with fast adopting environments. Instead, processing or manufacturing industries are naturally slower, since their installations are safety relevant, capital intensive and run for decades. Required significant investment for new intelligent devices and for optimization applications are hard to justify when plants yet run stable, especially when results of changes are not guaranteed. Apart from economic aspects, dominantly safety reasons would allow installations of new technologies only when these are bullet-proof and manageable. Another essential hurdle with growing significance is the security issue on processing data and its communication networks (NI/trend-watch, 2015).
No doubt, IoT networks and Industry 4.0 installations will progress with a tremendous potential to improve all industry performances. In processing industries this will only happen when economically justified and stable in terms of safety and security. Another challenge for upcoming digitized environments is the availability of sufficiently educated people to install and maintain these kinds of applications. Eventually, the overall approach to the situation could be to: Think big – Start small – Learn fast (Mui, 2014).
Henning, C. (2017), Six Steps to IIoT. Retrieved from http://profinews.com/2017/05/six-steps-to-iiot/
Niederhaus, E. (2016), Machtbeziehungen und Digitalisierung der Industrie 4.0. Retrieved from https://blog.vdi.de/2016/08/machtbeziehungen-und-digitalisierung-der-industrie-4-0/
Schlede, D. (2014), Finding security in the cloud. Retrieved from https://www.controleng.com/single-article/internet-of-things-finding-security-in-the-cloud
Mui, C. (2014), Think Big, Start Small and Learn Fast. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2016/01/03/6-words/#2f2c400b1a3b
Syska, A. (2016), Industrie 4.0 Interview. Retrieved from https://www.process.vogel.de
NI/trend-watch (2015), The Industrial Internet of Things. Retrieved from http://www.ni.com/pdf/company/en/Trend_Watch_IIOT.pdf
