Making the Move to Industry 4.0

The next generation models of the supply chain will be “successfully combining automation and digital technologies to drive superior performance,” according to MHI’s recently released 2017 Annual Industry Report titled “Next-Generation Supply Chains: Digital, On-Demand and Always-On,” developed in collaboration with Deloitte Consulting. The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 are concepts that are key to gaining the efficiency, agility and flexibility promised in these new supply chain models.

The MHI report defines IoT as “the use of the Internet to connect computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data in real time.” The Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) refers specifically to the use of IoT in an industrial context.

Industry 4.0 is a related but slightly different concept. The term, which originated in Germany, refers to the fourth phase of the Industrial Revolution. (The first phase was mechanical and steam power, the second phase included flow-based, production-line assembly and the third phase encompassed automated control with the advent of programmable controllers.)

“In the fourth phase, systems are becoming much more network-enabled and data-enabled and there is some level of autonomy being introduced into these systems,” said Daniel McGinn, director of business development, Secure Power Systems at MHI member Schneider Electric.

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