by Gary Mintchell | Mar 19, 2015 | Automation, Commentary, Internet of Things, News, Operations Management, Technology
A blog on the HP site by Christian Verstraete offers yet another opinion on Industry 4.0. However, he never really talks about Industry 4.0. Instead, he discusses the Internet of Things. Even though this is not “mainstream media,” it is still an example of sloppy thinking.
Beware of Industry 4.0 Misinformation
Verstraete first off confuses two terms. He never really touches on what Industry 4.0 is–including digital manufacturing, cyber physical systems, or, indeed, manufacturing. While making a couple of aside comments about manufacturing, he really only talks about the consumer side of the equation.
He links it directly to the Internet of Things–catering specifically to the usage of the internet of things in industries.
“Let’s start with the fact that companies increasingly cooperate in product development, across their supply chain and in their maintenance operations. Then, let’s look at where the Internet of Things can actually help enterprises deliver better products, cheaper and faster while maintaining or improving quality levels and services.”
He continues, “So, collecting market research as well as user data and then making it available to the developers would really help them defining the next generation product. But given market concerns about privacy, your data collection approach should be thought through very carefully.”
From a manufacturing point of view, this is one of the two promises of machine-to-machine (M2M) theory. An OEM, for example, could monitor its machine in the customer’s plant for both providing maintenance service and for collecting data on machine performance and component performance for the purpose of improving its product.
“An Industry 4.0 example would then be that you, as part of the product development process, desire user data, but you are not interested in the individual. You will need to demonstrate to customers that the information gathered is anonymous and there is no way for anybody receiving the information, legally or illegally to trace it back to the end-user.”
He misses an opportunity to inform his readers about the “industry” in Industry 4.0. Here he once again uses consumer point of view:
He then progresses to “maintenance operations.” I’m not sure if he is confusing maintenance and operations or simply referring to maintenance. But he misses a great opportunity to discuss the value of predictive maintenance or condition-based maintenance.
“Whether we talk about maintenance operations within the production environment or services to maintain equipment at the customer site, the problem remains the same. When is an intervention required? Typically we have two approaches. Either regular preventive maintenance (for example yearly) or maintenance triggered by usage (typical in the car industry), it always happens before the fact and does not take into account the actual status of the equipment.”
Let’s all press people to define terms and resist just mixing up all the terms and then running with a half-baked idea. There is the Internet of Things. There is Industry 4.0 (of which you have probably heard much). There is Smart Manufacturing (of which you have probably only heard of here–and you most likely won’t any longer because I have been removed from the formation group).
As the technologies evolve and engineers begin to implement, manufacturing efficiency and profitability should be experiencing a step change improvement.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 16, 2015 | Asset Performance Management, Internet of Things, Process Control, Technology
Jim Cahill recently wrote about the Emerson Process Management take on the Internet of Things discussion. His report was about a presentation by Charlie Peters at the 2015 Investor Conference. I find it interesting that there is sufficient publicity behind the IoT discussion to bring it up to investors.
Many people strive to define what is included in an Internet of Things technology discussion. Peters’ list hits just about everything. “Ubiquitous connectivity, accessible costs/capacity and powerful & friendly tools. Smart phones, tablets, cellular and wi-fi communications expand connectivity tremendously. Sensors, data storage and computation power lower costs and access. And social networks, big data and prognostics make tools more friendly, intuitive and more valuable to use.”
Why do we care? What applications would be affected (or maybe already are affected)? Peters sees, “monitoring, infrastructure management, intelligent manufacturing and production, energy efficiency and improved environmental performance and compliance.”
I especially appreciate his discussion of implications from possibilities and challenges—increased digital and cloud infrastructure, more intelligent products, enriched business models, and enhanced digital customer models.
In Emerson Process Management president Steve Sonnenberg‘s portion of the presentation, he highlighted an example of new business models being created with these technologies and services—a steam management operation on Jurong Island in Singapore. Thousands of acoustic wireless devices are being installed to monitor steam traps which are being remotely monitored by Emerson experts to instantly spot energy losses and avoid wasting energy. This results in large energy savings and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
I think we have been designing and installing “Internet of Things” technologies for years in manufacturing. The consumer world of connected mobile phones, thermostats, and now watches has served to popularize the term. Regardless, as both suppliers and their customers learn to design new business models to exploit the technology, we will witness another surge of productivity and profitability in manufacturing.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 4, 2015 | Automation, Data Management, Events, News, Operations Management, Software
I have a potpourri of items to start the day. In the morning I leave for a week serving at the Tijuana Christian Mission. We will do a variety of service projects including building a section of a cinder-block security wall at its Rosarito orphanage site. We will do some work at the women’s shelter. We will also have some “real” Mexican tacos and check out the Pacific Ocean. I will be writing ahead, but there may be some gaps.
ABB
I decided that I just had too much going on along with watching my budget to attend this year’s ABB Automation and Power World event in Houston. This is the first one I’ve missed. And, yes, I do feel some withdrawal pain. What little news I’ve seen so far says that attendance is about 8,000. That is fantastic. I have seen no other news so far.
There were a couple of press releases in general. I subscribe to news feeds using Feedly on my iPad. I scan hundreds of items a day. Unfortunately, whatever Web technology ABB uses, when I click on the teaser lead in to the story to go to the Website, nothing happens. I’ve reported it to ABB several times in the past. For now, I don’t tweet or write up these items–I can’t see them.
Jim Pinto on Tolerance
My friend Jim Pinto who once wrote a monthly column on automation for me has switched his outlook on life. He has been tackling social problems lately in his new blog.
The latest edition is an impassioned plea for tolerance. He talks about treating other people with dignity. Certainly that is a life skill that will help you become successful except in the most toxic of organizational environment. But certainly successful as a person.
The piece did send me in search of a book in my library from the late 60s called “A Critique of Pure Tolerance.” For you philosophers, you might get just a sniff of Kant in the title. Rightly so. Three philosophers contributed essays–a Hegelian, a Kantian, and a positivist. One author was Robert Paul Wolfe. I can neither remember the other two or find the book right now. The point was (throwback to anti-VietNam protests) that sometimes you really shouldn’t tolerate the thoughts of others. I just offer that as a token of meaningless debate.
Real news from Dassault
Just received this update. By the way, I think these pre-configured apps are the beginning of the future for manufacturing software. Seems Apriso is making us smart–at least according to the press relations manager. Version 4.0 of Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Apriso Manufacturing Process Intelligence (MPI) application suite is now available. New Maintenance, Logistics and Warehouse Intelligence Packs add visibility to another 200+ new KPIs.
Manufacturers operating globally are challenged to accurately measure analytics across sites to identify “best-in-class” performance. MPI 4.0 now offers 700+ pre-configured, built-in measures and KPIs within seven DELMIA Apriso Intelligence Packs. Intelligence Packs are pre-configured to work out-of-the-box with existing Apriso products (or may be integrated with other vendor products) to deliver the industry’s most robust EMI solution for global manufacturing excellence.
MPI 4.0 now offers Maintenance, Logistics and Warehouse Intelligence Packs, in addition to existing Production, Machine, Labor and Quality Intelligence Packs.
Advanced manufacturing strategies
There is one thing that puzzles me. Does anyone care about the variety of “smart manufacturing” theories and initiatives that take up so much room in magazines and blogs these days? I keep asking and writing, but the response is muted.
Granted, the European initiatives, principally Industrie 4.0, seem to be supplier driven. The US counterpart, Smart Manufacturing, has a government component, but is largely academic backed by some private companies who wish to take advantage of a pool of Ph.D. candidate researchers. It does talk about building a platform. However, the commercial impact is still in the distant future.
Just checking in. I’m working on a paper. If you have anything to contribute, I’m all ears.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 2, 2015 | Commentary, Marketing, News, Operations Management
Do you sometimes feel that the term “innovation” has been totally captured by corporate spin doctors and marketing managers?
I live in a world of press releases. Almost every company and/or product is innovative. The word repeats so often that it loses its power. The mind can grow numb to the term–eyes just glossing over the term.
Somewhere along the line, Naseem Javed, a corporate philosopher and founder of the Image Supremacy Movement, “LinkedIn” with me. I think he’s trying to sell me a program. I’m not in that business, but I am in the business of finding useful information and sharing it.
He recently sent me a note about an article he had published in Leaders in the Middle East, “Innovate or Die.”
He said, “Innovation, on the other hands, as a label is almost useless, when applied as a fancy bandage to fix old processes and produce odd shod things. Innovation is best as an outcome of intricate and collaborative processes inspired by entrepreneurial excellence, deeply roots into vision and imagination, incubated with drive, refined with talents but all along under a long term master strategy. Here innovation becomes a life style and not a procedural checklist to justify a bonus.”
Often, he notes, the program is innovation in name only. Like a feel-good exercise with no substance. Somehow I seem to be reminded of sessions like that in my corporate career.
“True innovative excellence can only be discovered in deep calm;” he continues, “where understanding of the new global age issues and core competencies are juxtaposed to achieve something very remarkable. True innovations are the application of foresights, wisdom, and global age smartness surrounded by global age execution under entrepreneurial goals. It can be an easy exercise if all the ingredients are well understood. Impossible when random processes are exploited in the dark.”
Javed contrasts what he calls hard asset issues with soft asset issues. “Successful programs like TQM, Balance Scorecard and Six Sigma dramatically improve quality and performance. They are designed to rightfully calibrate the hard asset issues of production. There is a serious lack of three dimensional modeling for soft asset issues, like vision, innovative thinking enveloping all production issues. These image supremacy rules challenge current methods and offer checklists to assess the need of newer, soft power agenda-centric approaches.”
This is a great image, “Innovation without entrepreneurial forces is like a paint primer applied to a garage door, but to roll out a formula car from that same garage is what the challenge all about.”
Where are you with your “innovation program?” Or, can you say that you are a truly innovative company? I’ve devoted much of my career to that issue–sometimes successful, sometime not so much. But that is where the fun is.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 24, 2015 | Automation, Internet of Things, Networking, Operations Management, Technology
Are you sick of hearing about the Internet of Things, yet? I hope not. That’s the big topic in industrial/manufacturing circles these days, and I doubt that it fades soon.
I think there is a paradox going down here, though. In many respects we already have connected plants. Automation has been so well accepted, that it would be hard to find a facility either manufacturing or production that has no automation. And automation requires instrumentation, networking, and data analysis.
Even considering IP–as in Internet Protocol–as a core of Internet of Things, the adoption of Ethernet-based networks such as EtherNet/IP and Profinet continues to grow significantly.
One wonders, then, what manufacturing executives think of the whole idea and where adoption ranks in their priorities.
Robert McCutcheon, Partner with PwC and US Industrial Products Leader, led a study with PwC and The Manufacturing Institute. The facts and conclusions are included in The Internet of Things: what it means for US manufacturing.
McCutcheon followed up with a blog post where he summarized the findings.
Setting the table for the discussion, he notes, “According to one estimate, the installed base for Internet-connected devices already exceeded $14 billion by early 2015, and is forecast to boom to nearly $50 billion by 2020. We are living in an era of deep data inter-connectivity.”
Further, he says, “Connected devices and new data flows are already making impressive headway in the manufacturing sector, and we expect to see this trend accelerate. In fact, another estimate shows that over the next decade, manufacturers could stand to capture about $4 trillion of value from the IoT through increased revenues and lower costs.”
With this potential value potential, what are executives thinking? Here is his summary.
“This is what we learned:
- Smart sensors are gaining traction – nearly 40% of U.S. manufacturers are collecting and using data generated by smart sensors to enhance their manufacturing and operating processes
- Not all think IoT strategy is critical — about 30% say that it’s “slightly important” or “not important at all” to adopt IoT strategy in their operations
- Focus is on manufacturing plants — one in three manufacturers use data-driven technology in the manufacturing plant only, with about one in four deploying it in their plant and warehouse”
The idea is data-driven manufacturing. Many are competing to find the killer app for this.
The idea is data-driven manufacturing. Many are competing to find the killer app for this. Industrie 4.0 advocates describe a digital factory that mirrors the physical factory where engineers and executives can fine tune the process from design to ship. Smart Manufacturing envisions a platform where apps can be built upon which will provide benefits of enhanced workflow.
Even Lean (which is seldom discussed lately, but remains the best route to manufacturing effectiveness) needs data to both discover problem areas and provide feedback about the success of the project.
Where do you stand on the IoT spectrum?
