The rule of six: Tackling industry 4.0 challenges

Darren Hugheston-Roberts, head of machinery safety at TÜV SÜD, a global product testing and certification organisation.

Not only does Industry 4.0 deliver medical equipment manufacturers flexibility and speed to market, but it also enables hyper-personalisation as individualised mass production becomes possible without compromising on cost, quality and speed. However, manufacturers face multiple challenges, including:

• Unfamiliarity with Industry 4.0 concepts.
• Lack of global uniform standards, regulations and certifications.
• Inability to identify and measure opportunities.

Traditionally, manufacturing machinery has been disconnected and these isolated systems meant that safety could be assessed in a static environment. Current regulations are also set-up to address this - where the variables can be easily understood, and control measures applied to minimise the known hazards. However, smart factories are based on modular architectures, with standardised interfaces and state-of-the-art information technology that permit highly flexible, automated ‘plug and produce’ manufacturing.

While Industry 4.0 is a growing reality, much of it remains a concept as the shift to this method of working requires significant investment, and many brownfield factories do not have the necessary infrastructure to support it. As manufacturers become more aware about Industry 4.0, the realisation will become apparent that it is a route that must be taken for their business to thrive and survive.

While a smart factory will see reduced risk in several areas, the range and flexibility of connected interfaces introduces a new set of machinery safety risk issues. Industry 4.0 will therefore necessitate a move from a human-led static risk assessment approach to a machine-led dynamic risk assessment approach, with an ever-increasing reliance on multiple layers of functional safety. As Industry 4.0 becomes ever more agile and automated, so the approach to machinery safety must reflect and support that. For many, Industry 4.0 therefore raises more questions about machinery safety than can currently be answered.

To address these challenges, Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften (acatech), a German National Academy of Science and Engineering, developed the Industry 4.0 Maturity Index. The index was developed by a consortium of research institutions working under the umbrella of acatech, and we also contributed our knowledge in industrial IT security.

The objective was to create a tool that enabled Industry 4.0 to be introduced in manageable steps. The tool provides manufacturers of automation systems with a solid basis and certainty for their investments and planning. The model covers the entire value chain and focuses on the defined individual benefits for the company.

Six stages

The index is a systematic guideline, supporting companies in the integration and continuous improvement of their IT and communication systems. To this end, it defines six successive stages:

1. Computerisation: While the use of IT and process automation has already become the standard, companies still use insular information systems at this stage.
2. Connectivity: Once the individual components are connected, companies have reached the maturity stage of connectivity and implemented digitalisation as defined in this guideline. However, they have not yet achieved full integration between information and operational technologies.
3. Visibility: At this stage, companies start to use sensors for real-time recording of conditions and processes. They produce a digital model of production, a “digital shadow” that shows what is happening at any given point in time.
4. Transparency: Once companies use the digital shadow to identify and understand interactions, they have reached stage 4. To do so, they need to interpret the recorded data in the relevant contexts by applying engineering knowledge. Big data applications are deployed in parallel to business application systems, such as ERP – or MES – systems, to provide a common platform for extensive data analysis.
5. Predictive capacity: To simulate scenarios and evaluate them in terms of their likelihood and consequences, the digital shadow is projected into the future. As a result, companies can anticipate future developments and make the necessary decisions.
6. Adaptability: At the highest stage of maturity, the IT systems will make these decisions independently. At this stage, Industry 4.0 has been realised in full. IT systems initiate the necessary alignment measures automatically and without delay. The extent to which IT systems will be allowed to act autonomously depends on two aspects: first, on the complexity of the decision, and second, on the cost-benefit ratio of automated versus human actions.

Modular structure

The Maturity Index has a modular structure and covers five functional areas: development, production, logistics, services, and marketing and sales. However, Industry 4.0 is more than the mere connection of cyber-physical systems (CPS), as a company’s corporate culture is equally important to its organisational structure. To address this, the index therefore defines four structural areas: 

1. Resources - include a company’s workforce and their competencies, equipment, facilities, tools and products. 
2. Information systems - refer to socio-technical systems in which people and technology provide and process data. 
3. Organisational structure - covers rules and structures which control a company’s internal and external relationships. 
4. Corporate culture - refers to a company’s value system, such as its workforce’s willingness to accept and actively shape change.

Application of the Maturity Index covers three phases. The first phase is to analyse a company’s current maturity stage, using questionnaires, on-site factory inspections and workshops to provide an overview of the current state of digitalisation.

Phase Two involves the definition of specific goals, including consideration of both the use of digital processes and corporate strategy. A gap analysis then identifies the capabilities and resources that are still needed to achieve these objectives.

The final phase sees the experts develop a digital roadmap to build-up these capabilities, with actions being prioritised based on a cost-benefit matrix.

The expectations of Industry 4.0 are that it will increase efficiencies and enable product developers and manufacturers to tailor products to customers’ needs faster. However, the connected world of Industry 4.0 adds a new and significant dimension of complexity in terms of machinery safety challenges, and many still do not have a coherent plan for Industry 4.0 implementation. The solution to this could be the Maturity Index, as it delivers a step-by-step goal-based approach, so that every single action delivers measurable benefits, and the process is always traceable.