The concept of Industry 4.0 is the most talked about topic in the manufacturing community today. Technology is making an impact on every step of the manufacturing process.
As industrial technology develops, this wave of automation and digitization is being labelled “Industry 4.0” - the fourth industrial revolution.
The most powerful levers manufacturers can pull will come in the form of robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the ‘Internet of Things’ digitalization. Richer data and smart robotics will maximize a factory’s output, while minimizing cost and defects.
At Dormer Pramet we see Industry 4.0 as a big opportunity which can positively affect our production indicators and bring a competitive advantage.
In the words of Henry Ford: “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” To reach our full potential we need to continue to embrace new technology.
Our path to “Smart factories” has been started at our production sites in Šumperk and Sao Paulo. We have started to analyze the possibilities, create plans, discuss with possible partners, suppliers and colleagues, as well as make visits to other manufacturing plants from different industry segments.
Some important projects involving the use of robots and automation have already begun. There is no single concept on how to implement Industry 4.0. It will be a learning process and our aim is not to spend huge amounts of money, but to be smart and use available tools with the highest impact.
In some cases, it can be just smart usage of Office 365 software by operators on the shop floor for better communications between shifts. In other areas, it will require investment, people training and more extended projects supported by external partners.
It will be an interesting and challenging journey to adopt new technologies in our production process. It is clear we need to enrich our fantastic technical capabilities at both sites with deeper knowledge in digital. This will bring us a lot of new opportunities and improvements.
Marek Kotrlý
Production director
Dormer Pramet