Categories: Uncategorized

Industry 4.0 standard – is there such a thing ?

Is there such a thing as an Industry 4.0 standard ?

Does ‘Conforms to Industry 4.0 standard ’ have any meaning ? No.
The term is meaningless. There is no yardstick that you can use to say ‘This system conforms to the Industry 4.0 standard’. Industry 4.0 is merely a term used to denote a kind of automation characterized by the capture, transfer and analysis of data using sensors connected to machines, the internet and cloud.

There is however a set of design principles that define Industry 4.0:
Interoperability: The ability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to communicate with each other over the Internet.
Information transparency: The ability to capture activities of machines through electronic sensors, store this data, and process it for other purposes.
Technical assistance: First, the ability to support humans by reporting and alerting, so that humans can and take decisions. Second, the ability to support humans by performing tasks that are unpleasant, exhausting, or unsafe.
Decentralized decisions: The ability to make decisions and perform tasks as autonomously (independent of humans) as possible. Decisions and tasks are delegated to humans only if they are very difficult or involve conflicting goals.

The extent to which each of these principles is implemented can vary, and will increase as years go by, as technology advances.

There are a lot of evolving standards for the different components of Industry 4.0 (sensor, Cloud, IOT, etc.) and the manner in which they communicate (the protocols, security, etc.), but there is no standard that says “This is Industry 4.0, while this is not”. If there is a system that follows the design principles enumerated above, it is Industry 4.0.  

Industry 1.0 (a newly coined term) is the use of steam in industry 230 years ago. Just like there is no Industry 1.0 standard in terms of how many machines ran on steam and how much steam was used, there is no ‘conformance’ to Industry 4.0 standard.

Etc

Falooda – one of my favourite desserts

Most of my trips to Delhi involve a visit to Chandni Chowk, an old, chaotic, energetic and hugely entertaining part of Delhi. And of course wherever I go, I have to eat. One such trip involved eating in Karim’s followed by dessert of Falooda in Paranthe wali gali, and since then I’ve been a big fan of Falooda.

Falooda is a concoction of vermicelli, sweet basil seeds (sabja in Hindi), rose water and milk (or khova), in layers in a glass. Optionals are jelly, almonds, pistachios, mango or ice cream. Falooda came to India 500 years ago, with traders from Persia (present day Iran) and was popularized by Mughal rulers. It originates from an Iranian dessert called Faloodeh, in the city of Shiraz.
Shiraz used to be famous for its wine till as recently as 40 years ago, when the Iranian revolution put a stop to alcohol. It still produces great grapes and raisins. Maybe this is how the wine Cabernet Shiraz got its name ?

Since that first Falooda, I’ve had it many times all over the country, and most of them have been far more elaborate versions. Somehow, nothing has come close to divine taste of the simple one in that little shop in Paranthe wali gali.

Dasarathi G V

Director in LEANworx. Industry 4.0 machine monitoring. Scale OEE & Profits, reduce CapEx.

Recent Posts

How to reduce overtime in manufacturing using leanworx

How do I work 2 shifts instead of 3, and do the same production ? If you are working 3…

2 weeks ago

Industrial Machine Monitoring system- 5 Minute Explanation

An industrial machine monitoring system is designed to  do these:Capture data from machines.Transfer the data to a computer that has…

2 months ago

How to NOT implement a production monitoring systems in 2024

Production monitoring systems involve these basic components:Hardware and software that collects data electronically from the machine, and stores it in…

2 months ago

Can Machine Monitoring Software Improve Work Ethics?

Downtime due to work ethics issues can account for a surprisingly large amount of downtime.Late starting and early stoppage in…

2 months ago

Is manufacturing monitoring system useless in SMEs ? [ Misconception Explained]

A manufacturing monitoring system in SMEs yields big benefits in profits.It is very affordable.It pays back for itself in 1…

2 months ago

How Machine Downtime Tracking Software Stopped Night Shifts

LEANworx  machine downtime tracking software enabled a firm to stop working in the night shift.With the help of Leanworx, they…

2 months ago