What is Industry 4.0?
“Internet + manufacturing” is industry 4.0.” It is a concept introduced by Germany, it is called “Industrial Internet” in the US and “Made in China 2025” in China. The three concepts are consistent in essence and all point to the same core, namely intelligent manufacturing.
What are the features of Industry 4.0
1. Interconnection: Interconnection industry 4.0 is about connectivity, connecting equipment, production lines, factories, suppliers, products and customers.
2.Data: Industry 4.0 connection and product data, equipment data, RESEARCH and development data, industrial chain data, operation data, management data, sales data, consumer data.
3.Integration: Industry 4.0 will form an intelligent network of ubiquitous sensors, embedded mid-end systems, intelligent control systems, and communication facilities through CPS.Through this intelligent network, an interconnection can be formed between people, people and machines, machine to machine, and service to service, thus achieving a high degree of horizontal, vertical and end-to-end integration.
4.Innovation: The implementation process of Industry 4.0 is the innovation and development process of manufacturing industry. Innovation in manufacturing technology, products, models, formats, organizations and other aspects will emerge one after another, from technological innovation to product innovation, to model innovation, to liquid innovation, and finally to organizational innovation.
5.Transformation: For the traditional manufacturing industry in China, the transformation is actually from the traditional factory, from the factory of 2.0 and 3.0 to the factory of 4.0. In terms of the entire production form, the transformation is from mass production to personalized customization.In fact, the whole production process is more flexible, personalized and customized.This is a very important feature of Industry 4.0.
What are the technical pillars of Industry 4.0?
The nine technical pillars of Industry 4.0 include industrial Internet of Things, cloud computing, industrial big data, industrial robotics, 3D printing, knowledge work automation, industrial network security, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.These nine pillars will generate numerous business opportunities and listed companies.
Solutions include software and hardware.
The software includes industrial Internet of Things, industrial network security, industrial big data, cloud computing platform, MES system, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, knowledge work automation, etc.Hardware is industrial robots (including high-end parts), sensors, RFID, 3D printing, machine vision, intelligent logistics (AGV), PLC, data acquisition, industrial switches, etc.
This is a huge industrial revolution. If we miss industry 4.0, we will miss this era.Who won the fourth Industrial Revolution?The fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by Hanover in Germany in 2013, announced that this round of work revolution is centered on intelligent manufacturing.
German industry 4.0, as defined by the German government, is a framework institution composed of one information, one network, four themes, three integrations and eight plans.The overall framework of Industry 4.0 proposed by the German government has many differences with China’s actual national conditions, and there is still a certain distance in operation.
The fourth industrial Revolution will last about 30 to 40 years. Therefore, the subversion, reconstruction and integration of Chinese industry by Industry 4.0 and mobile Internet is just beginning.The essence of the fourth industrial Revolution is the battle of industrial standards that will dominate the future of the world. It was pushed forward by Germany and the United States according to their own logical path and expression methods.
The United States proposed an industrial Internet standard, hoping to focus on device connectivity, data analysis, and data-based business insights. Their focus on traditional industrial Internet connectivity was on big data and cloud computing.
Germany proposes industry 4.0, with powerful machinery manufacturing technology, advanced equipment and capabilities of embedded and control equipment. Germany pays great attention to the profound changes in the intellectualization and virtualization of production process.
It can be seen that American industrial Internet and German Industry 4.0 have opposite implementation paths and logic, but the goals are the same.Supported by COMPANIES like GE and IBM, the US focuses on getting through hardware from the perspective of software.Germany, led by Companies such as Siemens, Kuka and SAP, wants to move from hardware to software.No matter from soft to hard, or from hard to soft, the two goals are the same, that is, to achieve intelligent manufacturing, to achieve the integration of mobile Internet and industry.
Why did China choose the German standard?
First, The Chinese government believes that the German path is easier to follow than the US path.Second, America’s industry is deeply hollowed out.IT companies face great challenges in industry 4.0 and lack the implementation of infrastructure. With strong industrial technology, Germany is a manufacturing base, a supplier of production equipment and a provider of IT business solutions.In terms of the strategic choice of the fourth industrial revolution, the Chinese government’s strategy is to follow the trend of the new round of industrial development, choose Industry 4.0, launch the Chinese version of Made in China 2025, and look for opportunities to overtake on the curve, with the first-come-first-serve system.
Industry 4.0 is a brand new era. The first phase has just begun, and it is expected to take 30 to 50 years to develop and introduce. According to the minister of Industry and Information Technology of The People’s Republic of China (MIIT), Germany is connected from industry 3.0 to industry 4.0, while China is connected from 2.0 and 3.0 to 4.0.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Chinese Academy of Engineering define the core goal of China’s version of Industry 4.0 as intelligent manufacturing, which is a very accurate expression.From the intelligent manufacturing and then extended to specific factories, is the intelligent factory.Intelligent manufacturing and intelligent factories are the two major goals of Industry 4.0.
In the future industry 4.0 era, software or hardware is important, the answer is very simple: software decides everything, and software defines the machine.All factories are software companies, all data companies, all industrial software is critical in the industry 4.0 era, so software defines everything.