Additive Manufacturing Business Manager, Siemens
Tim Bell defines Industry 4.0 as the complete end-to-end digital thread. Many companies believe they’ve gone digital. However, as Bell often walks across factory floors from various industries, he notices there’s lots of paper - and it’s everywhere. Companies believe they’ve gone digital by turning models into 3D format with CAD.
Bell describes how Industry 4.0 goes beyond that. We have to start with the Digital Twin of the product, process, production and performance. By connecting the digital thread, businesses have access to data to make better decisions. Unfortunately, the majority of organizations often lack the purpose for collecting data and common sentiments Bell shares, ‘We don’t know, we just want to collect it and figure it out later!’
It is important for people to clearly identify their KPIs ahead of time based on measurements that leadership cares about. You can collect all the data in the world, but if it is packaged poorly, it may be challenging to get leadership buy-in. By packaging it right, it will facilitate better decision-making processes.
Bell shares his experiences of what he’s seen on the CNC and AM shop floors. One of which includes planting a 3D printer without a business case and how that led to tremendous cost savings at a manufacturing plant. It turns out engineers are pretty resourceful (we all knew that!) and more often than so, quickly find creative ways to utilize it for producing toolings, jigs and fixtures.
As the cost of metal additive manufacturing machines are dropping due to the rise in new players, Bell cautions the importance of mom and pop shops investigating 3D printers to bring into their CNC shops to choose the right technology. They may not see quick ROI but will definitely experience a cultural shift.
Finally Bell shares the reality of setting up a digital infrastructure to help businesses scale. Oftentimes it is challenging to build a good ROI to show leadership why they should invest in software as the impact on the bottom-line may be unknown. However, hopefully that overtime we’ll learn more!
Copyright © 2021 Beyond Industry 4.0 - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder