INDUSTRY 4.0
INDUSTRY 4.0:
REVOLUTION OR
EVOLUTION?
When tackling i4.0, food manufacturing
and processing industries are all on a
journey of discovery.
Industry supplier NZ Controls includes itself in
this bracket, describing the company as a service
provider rather than a manufacturer.
“We are also working out how it all fits together so
that we can help our customers. We want to add
value. It’s our responsibility to be informed and
ready to help guide our customers into the world
of Industry 4. We work hard to battle the hype
and drill down into real and practical applications
with measurable returns,” says Nikk King, director
business development, NZ Controls.
NZ controls believes that the best approach
is to consider the i4.0 technologies as a set of
tools and concepts to enhance what it is already
doing. Thus, i4.0 is more an evolution than a
FTR502
Drive
productivity
with data
revolution. Nikk says that while the results can be
revolutionary, “We don’t need to ditch everything
and start again or even make significant physical
changes”.
Perhaps the best way to take advantage of the
i4.0 tools and techniques is to change or broaden
the mindset to one of iterative and continuous
improvement. While there’s nothing revolutionary
there, says Nikk, NZ Control’s ability to apply
emerging technologies leads to newly discovered
opportunities for improvement. In some other
cases, i4.0 tools may just provide the data needed
to prove what you may already suspect, finally
giving the justification to get those projects
moving.
Another key application for the i4.0 toolkit is to
allow more flexibility and potentially ‘revolutionise’
some aspects of production. For example,
evolving from a very linear and inflexible workflow
to a more adaptive cell or modular approach,
perhaps using collaborative robots and automated
guided vehicles to move components instead of
traditional conveyors filling up the floor.
“From NZ Controls perspective we must provide
measurable value. We seek to collaborate on
developing a measurable business case, delivering
i4.0 technology solutions and help our customers
realise their return on investment. In doing so, we
maintain our customers’ trust and in some small
way help to evolve the local manufacturing sector
into one which is incrementally more productive.”
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”
Peter Drucker
Measure to gain control
• Repeatable production • Traceability • Track costs and outcomes
• Manage efficiency • Drive continuous improvement
16 MARCH 2020