In a recent blog post (Industry 4.0 – Germany takes first steps toward the next industrial revolution), Stefan Ferber gave us insights into how the Internet of Things and Services (IoTS) will affect the manufacturing industry. In a modern production facility, where machines, parts, and systems are connected to each other, information can be exchanged easily and quickly between the individual participants. This will not only allow us to react flexibly to changing requirements, but also optimize existing processes.
During a brief video interview at CeBIT 2013 we asked Martin Schäffler, Manager Industry 4.0, about the importance of IoTS for the manufacturing industry, and if manufacturers can already make use of it today. One detail we can share with you upfront: predictive maintenance seems to be a solution quite ready for use. But see for yourself.
I’ve often wondered why I need to change my automobile’s motor oil every 3,500 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. Maybe I’m one of the few people left in the world who still enjoys changing his own oil. But it’s often concerned me that maybe a mileage- or time-based maintenance schedule wastes lots of valuable resources like oil; aluminium and metals for fabricating the new oil filter; plastic for making the new jug of oil; and energy for the recycling facility that takes my dirty motor oil, strips all the impurities from it and recycles it.
Maybe I don’t really need to change the oil that often. Maybe the metrics which determine when I should change the oil – in this case either vehicle mileage or time – aren’t the best predictors of my car’s optimal maintenance schedule. What if there were sensors on my red 1966 Ford Mustang convertible (V8, 289 cubic inch engine, 2-barrel carburettor, for those curious) that would tell me when I need to change the oil. And what if those sensors were collecting data from the oil filter, the valves, the pistons and the exhaust to find anomalies that are better predictors of when I should change my oil to prevent deterioration of my car.
Predictive maintenance is one such IoT/M2M solution that helps lower operating and capital costs by facilitating proactive servicing and repair of assets, while allowing the more efficient use of repair resources – both human labor and replacement products. See Fig. 1.
Figure 1: Traditional maintenance scheduling versus predictive maintenance for assets [Source: Analysys Mason, 2013]
Today, I would like to share my impressions from the Umsetzungsforum Industrie 4.0, which took place ten days ago at the Produktionstechnisches Zentrum Berlin. The event was organized and hosted by Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann, President of the acatech working group, and Dr. Siegfried Dais, Co-President of the acatech working group and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management at Robert Bosch GmbH. Many well-known figures from the political and economic scene were also in attendance. The impressive building was a great platform to foster the discussion and reflection about the next revolution in production. Read more…
When I joined Bosch Software Innovations some years ago, one of my first projects was the analysis of a fancy fire detection scenario, which was intended to guide the development of the Visual Rules State Flow (a state diagram using transition rules modeled with Visual Rules). I still remember myself standing in front of a whiteboard, lively discussing the scenario with Markus and Mike, who tried to scribble the stuff that we came up and subsequently discarded. Time passed and the State Flow grew from toddler to promising juvenile. While it has been and still is pretty much underestimated, we finally have the opportunity to show its potential in an Industrial-IT showcase. Currently, we develop this showcase, which is supposed to look eventually as illustrated below, with a bunch of illustrious partners, among others Stäubli (who provide a 6-axis robot), SICK (who provide an image-based code reader), and HP (who provide the server).
Direct link to the video "Industry 4.0 - The Technological Revolution continues!"
Industry 4.0 is paving the way for a social and technological revolution that will drastically change the entire industrial landscape. Why 4.0? As since the 18th century, when the first Industrial Revolution began, it is the fourth wave of major technological changes. There is brand new video footage available from the German Engineering Association VDMA featuring different Industry 4.0 projects of players such as the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Bosch, SAP, Siemens as well as Wittenstein. What this video shows: Industry 4.0 is a sophisticated approach changing the entire global value chain: communication, planning, logistics and production.Read more…
![Figure 1: Traditional maintenance scheduling versus predictive maintenance for assets [Source: Analysys Mason, 2013]](http://blog.bosch-si.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Predictive-Maintenance.jpg)
