Welcome to the revolution – the Industry 4.0 concept becomes a reality
While the OEMs and tier suppliers are certainly embracing this latest industrial revolution and furthering its adoption, other important organisations are driving the ongoing development of the concept and the technology. In this AMS special supplement we highlight some of the approaches being deployed and the range of possibilities being explored across the automotive manufacturing industry. We spoke to key players such as BMW, GM, Porsche, Gestamp and Hirotec as well as the research specialists at Fraunhofer IPT and the DFKI.
Now that Industry 4.0 is becoming much better defined and real-world applications are being established, it is clear is that we are still only scratching the surface of its potential...
Real-time reliability: How has the concept has become a reality at a leading US transmission manufacturer?
In all the right places: Automation is making a difference at BMW Dingolfing but humans are still at the heart of production. Gareth Price reports
Zero downtime: GM has ambitious plans to implement a zero down time approach using cloud based computing to connect all of its production robots worldwide.
Cube route: Data-led analysis and audit are helping Porsche to maintain and enhance its production quality values
Behaviour study: Big data technology has enabled Gestamp to tackle energy consumption and, crucially, to observe just how equipment behaves in operation
Small steps – big gains: Hirotec has taken on a series of small projects that are building a fund of knowledge and experience to implement an IoT strategy
Digital vision: Fraunhofer’s Dr. Thomas Bobek tells us how he sees the future Industry 4.0 implementations in automotive manufacturing
Plug and produce: Dennis Kolberg of the DFKI discusses developing and creating the Smart Factory and a paradigm shift in production operations
In addition, our From the Industry section includes contributions from: Siemens, Lectra, Geico, ABB Robotics, Dürr, SICK AG, Zeiss, Fronius, GOM and FARO
