“Industry 4.0” is closely related to IoT and is said to be an important term that will influence the future direction of manufacturing in Japan. We will answer questions such as what is Industry 4.0, what kind of future does it paint, and how it is related to and different from IoT.
What is Industry 4.0?
Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution) is a national project which has established a domestic industry-government-academia collaboration system, and has also attracted attention in Japan with the advancement of IoT. At the heart of
this concept is the idea of the “smart factory” (thinking factory).
What is a smart factory in Industry 4.0?
A smart factory is a system in which all machinery and equipment within a factory are connected to the Internet, streamlining the manufacturing process and enabling the efficient large-scale production of small quantities of a wide variety of high-added-value products.
It is said that to make factories smarter, it is essential to network the engineering and supply chains using not only the Internet, but also IoT, big data, AI, industrial robots, etc. The essence of a smart factory is a factory that makes maximum use of advanced technologies such as IoT and robots and is connected by a network.
What is the goal of Industry 4.0?
What exactly does Industry 4.0 intend to achieve? The following three points are considered to be particularly important:
1. Realization of dynamic cell production
“Dynamic cell production” was devised as a way to realize large-scale production of a wide variety of low-volume, high-value-added products using smart factories. Dynamic cell production is said to be an evolved production method that combines the advantages of traditional “line production” and “cell production,” in which products are assembled by one person or a small team of workers.
In dynamic cell production, the line processes are classified into several types, and the robots responsible for assembly at each process exchange information in real time via a network with the cloud, higher-level systems, surrounding equipment, and on-site workers, and proceed with the optimized number and variety of production according to the situation.
2. Appealing to mass customization
By further advancing dynamic cell production, it will eventually be possible to produce products with individually different specifications. The manufacturing technique of producing products that reflect diverse customer needs in a timely manner, starting from “lot size 1,” and providing them to the market without increasing costs is called “mass customization.” This term is a combination of mass production, which means mass production, and customization, which means made-to-order production.
It is predicted that in the future, Industry 4.0 will see many smart factories being connected to each other, so that a country’s entire manufacturing industry will function as if it were one large smart factory.
Mass customization will be realized in the most ideal way in such a future environment. Each product with specifications changed according to needs will be produced quickly and smoothly by automatically selecting the most efficient line and process in the supply chain. It has been announced that this will enable everyone to obtain custom-made products quickly and at low prices.
3. Evolving manufacturing with cyber-physical systems (CPS)
Industry 4.0 aims to evolve manufacturing through “cyber-physical systems” that collect diverse data from the real world, or physical world, using sensor networks and other means, and process and analyze it using computer systems in cyberspace.
A sensor network is a network of interconnected sensors that measure data, while a cyber-physical system is a system or service that creates an efficient and advanced society by closely linking computing power in the real world and cyberspace.
For example, when a product manufactured through mass customization is delivered to a consumer, the product itself then acts as a data collection terminal, sending data on usage and consumer needs to the design and manufacturing site, creating a cycle.
Once such a cyber-physical system infrastructure is in place, it is expected that intelligent production systems will be built in which all data related to manufacturing, from design and development to production, will be accumulated and analyzed, and will operate autonomously to deliver products to consumers.
What is the difference between IoT and Industry 4.0?
IoT is translated as “Internet of Things”. IoT is a mechanism in which various things are connected to the Internet and take necessary actions by exchanging information. In IoT, things are basically connected to the Internet to exchange information.
On the other hand, in Industry 4.0, not only are things connected to the Internet, but things are also connected to each other. Furthermore, collections of things, or business processes, are also connected to each other and exchange information. These complex connections allow for autonomous and automatic operation while maintaining an optimized production system, which is the new form of manufacturing in Industry 4.0.