The future of Manufacturing

Factory floor, circa 1900s: The impact of the third wave of industrialisation has peaked. Automation is the word of the day, and advances in electrical engineering have changed the way goods are produced.

Factory floor, circa 2010s: In just a few decades, the factory floor is equipped with even more dazzling technologies. We are witnessing the era of ‘Industry 4.0’ and the rise of the ‘smart factory’, where interconnected machines spur manufacturing towards increased efficiency and productivity. The machines of future factories will work together to meet deadlines, optimize production and enhance product quality.

Siemens, known for its cutting-edge technical solutions across industries, provides a glimpse into the fascinating future of Industry 4.0. Here are some of the technologies driving this new Industrial Revolution.

IIoT with digital twins

In the age of Industrial Internet of Things, engineers came to rely on connected machines that would alert them to any maintenance and repairs needed, reducing loss in productivity and disruption caused by manual scheduling. Today, in factories equipped with Siemens’ digital twin technology, engineers are a step ahead of even IIoT. They can diagnose problems and simulate solutions without even stepping on the factory floor.

Digital twins are a digital simulation of real machines, processes and systems and are being used to great success to solve complex issues in factories across industries. Siemens’ digital twin offerings are advanced enough to even simulate how machines interact with factory workers to optimize their time and ensure better delegation of tasks.

AI and machine learning

AI-enabled production ecosystems are already capable of improving efficiency, executing predictive maintenance tasks and even supporting workers and amplifying their productivity. But, in complex environments, AI systems are helping bring about a degree of control never seen before.

Take, for example, a Siemens AI-powered gas turbine eco-system that keeps itself running with lesser and lesser human intervention. This is especially notable considering the multiple variables involved - how the gas burns, whether powerful combustion dynamic occurs, how much nitrogen oxide is created and how long a gas turbine can ultimately stay in operation. AI of the future can similarly be expected to step up and be involved in operations in more complex environments.

Advanced data collection and analytics

With IoT estimated to account for 10% of data generated worldwide, digitization will be essential as it allows for data to be streamlined and made more collaboration-friendly. A great data analytics success story is that of the Spanish national rail operator (Renfe). Using Railigent, a rail intelligence platform innovated by Siemens, it was able to guarantee a refund on delay of 15 minutes or more to passengers on its high-speed rail route between Madrid and Barcelona. To give an idea of the amount of data it deals with, a fleet of 100 train sets produces about 100-200 billion data points every year. Continued data analytics at that scale can bring the railways of the world a step closer to 100% train availability.

Additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is impacting everything in manufacturing, from the very tools used and product parts generated to total volumes of production. It is, in fact, ushering in a new era of product innovation as we speak. For starters, it is enabling newer, game-changing designs that aren’t possible in traditional manufacturing, such as complex single-piece devices that don’t require multiple parts and screws.

Siemens demonstrated the potential of additive manufacturing with a massive breakthrough - the successful installation and continued operation of a 3D-printed part in Krško nuclear power plant, Slovenia. Siemens engineers and materials solutions experts also successfully tested the first gas turbine blades ever to be produced by additive manufacturing. In the future, the collaboration of 3D-printing robots will accelerate production of large-scale complex structures.

Making the most of Industry 4.0 innovations

The promise of Industry 4.0 will come to fruition when these innovations work together to solve real-life problems, and as such, a holistic approach to Industry 4.0 is the need of the hour. At the Mumbai edition of its Innovation Day, 2018, Siemens showcased MindSphere - a cloud-based IoT operating system which allows for seamless integration and functioning of these technologies. MindSphere connects products, plants, systems and machines and allows for advanced analytics on the data generated. It essentially functions as PaaS - platform as a system.

MindSphere’s applications are wide ranging. Siemens itself has adapted the platform for the needs of various industries. For example, FlexLTP is an industrial application platform which makes predictive maintenance possible in IoT enabled factories, while Navigator helps manage buildings so that they use energy more efficiently. Siemens has also established MindSphere Application Centers around the world, staffed with about 900 software developers, data specialists and engineers. These centers are dedicated to specific industries and bring extensive specialized knowledge and domain know-how required to meet their complex challenges.

Worldwide, around one million devices are now connected through MindSphere. In India alone, it is involved in over 100 digital projects in the infrastructure, process industries and power sectors. Mindsphere integration is expected to not only confer the usual benefits of Industry 2.0, but also transform the entire value chain of Indian industries.