Are the right solutions already available for the production processes of the future?
Industry 4.0 is an umbrella term for the massive trend of making production technologies and processes more agile, flexible and transparent using internet and software technologies. Flexible automation technology, the “Industry 4.0” initiative, the “industrial Internet” – these and many other terms represent the radical change that is shaking the foundations of manufacturing. In the process, a key approach is the intelligent networking of autonomous, self-configuring production systems.
Therefore, Industry 4.0 is a new paradigm for the structure, planning and execution of production processes through the use of modern IT and communication methods. From this, completely new ideas and concepts originate. IT solutions pave the way for them from two main perspectives:
First of all, 3D-based simulation software makes visualization and validation of processes and production tasks possible. This is important because production plants are rarely built from scratch, but are reorganized while production is running. That in itself is nothing new — appropriate solutions for the digital factory have long been implemented. The novelty, however, is that in order to realize the ideas and concepts of Industry 4.0, virtual factories and model plants must now be an exact representation of the real production systems. Not just geometrically and kinematically, but also in regard to the logical behavior and control of the manufacturing units. They therefore represent a so-called digital twin of the factory. This is the only way to get from stiff, predetermined processes to agile, self-organized production units.
Secondly, a digital factory allows implementation of new manufacturing processes, plant concepts and technologies that would be too expensive or even impossible without simulation-based solutions. The more robotic applications are used, the greater the need for tools for programming and simulation will be. IT solutions are leading the way to these complex applications. They provide the necessary programming and simulation environment to make applications that could no longer be efficiently represented through a manual teach-in or would not show the necessary process quality.
Software for the production processes of the future
The production processes of the future are building on new systems, structures and processes. Digital factory software makes an essential contribution to this change:
- Better networking of plants and IT systems (IoT)
- Better transparency of data and information (production monitoring, predictive maintenance)
- Decentralized, independent decision-making with cyber-physical systems
- Technically improved and safer working conditions, e.g. with the use of cooperative robots
In order to accompany and enable this permanent revolution, a new generation of software for the digital factory is needed. We are offering the right software solution. We look forward to discussing the potential that the solution may reveal for you.
