25 September 2018

How to prepare for Industry 4.0 technology

Industry 4.0 is described as the ‘fourth industrial revolution', and is sometimes referred to as Smart Factory. It was initiated by a German government-sponsored working group, including well-known IT and industrial control companies.

But spending money on Industry 4.0 technology without implementing basic good manufacturing practices is like giving an unskilled driver a Ferrari. The results are likely to be disappointing.

Companies need to get their basic manufacturing conditions right. Implementing the practices outlined below significantly improves business performance, even without Industry 4.0.

– Ensure senior management understands how Industry 4.0 will benefit their business, and is committed and supportive to its implementation. Simply signing orders for kit and systems without senior management understanding and leadership is the biggest cause of failure.
– Identify the most important product groups and organise production by value stream instead of process.
– Use existing information and IT to measure and compare customer demand against production capacity.
– Engage, train and motivate employees to perform their roles with confidence and contribute to continuous improvement.
– Identify and fix production processes that are unreliable or not capable of producing product to within acceptable tolerances.
– Implement workplace organisation so that only necessary equipment and materials are on the shop floor. Everything should have a place and it should be easy to see if something is missing or not required.
– Identify critical quality, cost, delivery and human performance factors and implement meaningful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Ensure KPIs are regularly reviewed, and employees are involved to drive improvement. Do not use KPIs as a tool for blame.

Companies that have successfully implemented Lean will recognise these guidelines. Almost all these Industry 4.0 prerequisites can be implemented without large capital expenditure, but management discipline and commitment is necessary.

So far, most Industry 4.0 applications have been in advanced manufacturing companies with strong financial and technical resources and commitment, such as pharmaceutical, automotive and defence. IT and sensor systems for implementing Industry 4.0 have been expensive and supplied by large international companies.

An example of this is Muller Martini's finishing 4.0 philosophy, which is highlighting amongst many technology vendors that is possible to produce customised and variable print products cost effectively and efficiently using means of mass production, as they need to respond to market forces and produce customised products with high added value at low prices per copy.

Industry 4.0 is complicated, so it makes sense to implement gradually, starting with automated data collection, which can progressively be fed to sophisticated planning and co-ordination systems. Until recently, data transparency has been restricted, making cross system integration difficult. But systems are now becoming available that are opening the way for well-organised smaller companies to implement and benefit from Industry 4.0 in progressive stages.

BPIF Vision in Print (VIP) provides support with process improvement and can help you implement all of the basic good manufacturing practices mentioned above. In reference to automated data collection, the BPIF is working with Matthew Peacock, who was lead consultant with VIP and is now the productivity director for Active Data Metrics Ltd. This company specialises in developing cost effective productivity data collection and analysis systems.

Find out more about VIP and process improvement at www.britishprint.com/specialistservices/process-improvement