Technology and Industry 4.0: meeting the challenge with the right partner

                          Author: Carlos García Villate, R&D director at Lantek

The challenge for technology providers, such as Lantek, is to help clients understand these technologies and chart a transformation path and, at the same time, develop products in environments that are safe and easy to use whilst including all of these improvements in their software in the most organic and simplest way possible.

In addition, we have the special circumstances of the pandemic, which has empowered people even more, humanizing companies in their relationship with their stakeholders: customers, suppliers, employees, partners... More than ever, it’s clear that one of the greatest assets of any organization is its people, how they feel, how they act, how they relate with each other, how they think. It’s what we call the Internet of Behavior (IoB).

But, even before Covid-19, the need to personalize products and services was something that had to be considered. Thanks to Big Data and Artificial Intelligence systems, in the industrial sector, Data Analytics can cross-reference the information to detect consumption patterns, either of a particular client or of consumers in general or by geographic areas or continents.

Now, technology is taking things one step further to enhance both digitization and personalization with what we call the Internet of Behavior, putting people more firmly at the center of decision-making.

First and foremost: attention to data

The main thing we need to understand is that, in any of the scenarios, technologies and production processes that are going to be digitized, the basis for everything is data and how we use it.

Many industrial companies have digitized themselves without even considering the quality of their data: thinking that the priority was to make sure that their management software, CAD/CAM or workshop planning was working efficiently. No special care was taken to obtain clean data, adjusted to the individual activity, neither was the data from different areas of the company connected.

With Industry 4.0, data, that raw material that all industrial companies have, takes prime position. And the basic requirement to be able to move forward is to understand the need to identify, clean, classify and connect the information from every machine and every computer in each area of the company. From here, a plan can be evolved based on the company’s strategic objectives: production planning, smart budgeting, stock management, increased productivity, time and cost savings, optimization of raw materials... whatever the main objectives are, there is already a way to address them with technology and digitization.

Consider a simple example: a company purchases a new robotic arm that will allow it to make new parts or new products. If, in addition to the advantage of being able to manufacture new products, the robotic arm is connected with IoT technology (sensors, communication with other machines and operators, etc.), and all of the data obtained (usage times, errors, OEE, downtime, maintenance...) is collected in open databases, analytics applications can immediately display alerts and recommendations, not only for that arm but also for the entire production line. And by exploiting that data, AI-based applications will be able to suggest, for example, more efficient work planning which would reduce time and costs or deliver more accurate quoting for new parts.

And, as mentioned above, Industry 4.0 is not a single technology, but the interrelation of many technologies that utilize data to find continuous improvements every step of the way.

Hand in hand with the right partner

To start and proceed along the route to Industry 4.0 and the Smart Factory, we need a technology partner to lead us along the path. The unstoppable digital transformation that we have been seeing for years and uncertain and unexpected events such as the pandemic have highlighted the importance of collaborative work and the co-creation of solutions with customers and suppliers.

At Lantek, we’ve been accompanying our clients in their evolution for 35 years, adapting to their different levels of digital maturity, guiding and supporting them through their digital transformation.

By working extensively on software development, Lantek has been constantly advancing and working towards the Smart Factory concept. Now, along with the evolution of Industry 4.0 and the challenges created by the pandemic, this trend is becoming mainstream and companies of all sizes are looking for the best way to apply it.

This is where Lantek can provide a clear advantage for sheet metal companies, as it has sophisticated products such as Lantek MES and Lantek Analytics designed specifically for this industry. These products are designed so that any company, regardless of their digital maturity, can begin to take easily configurable steps on their path towards becoming a Smart Factory.

Having been involved in the early stages of this revolution, Lantek has in-depth knowledge of the needs and obstacles faced by manufacturers and has considerable experience in integrating systems with any software that the customer already has, as well as the necessary requirements and configurations for OEM suppliers.