At Texprocess, Frankfurt, Germany, besides meeting a lot of old friends and colleagues
from the industry, all that I heard there was ‘Industry 4.0’… Every technology provider
was talking about concepts like Internet of Things, additive manufacturing, manto-
machine communication, machine-to-machine communication, SaaS, smart
manufacturing, and artificial intelligence – each concept an integral part of the
term Industry 4.0.
Many of the technologies I saw were tailor-made for western countries where
labour is a scarce and expensive resource. The idea behind many of the machines
was to eliminate human intervention and fully automate processes from design to
production and in some cases even include retail and logistics.
So, does that mean Industry 4.0 is actually about taking production back to the West…? I have my reservations on how relevant Industry 4.0 is for the manufacturing world today. Even before automation has properly been adopted in Asia and other developing nations where production is happening, the focus of technology providers is already shifting to the next phase without fully perfecting the automation stage and making it suitable to the needs of the countries that are leading production today…
Can the technology providers afford to ignore the requirements of these manufacturing destinations, which are their biggest selling markets…? I don’t think so! In reality, the Texprocess platform is about the future, though in manufacturing countries the push is still on selling automation.
Most industry experts agree that the future is still a mystery and difficult to predict, what’s sure is that it would be very different from today and if companies do not start preparing now, they would be wiped out of business…
Our analysis of Texprocess is an attempt to decode Industry 4.0 as the debate gets louder… The same will continue in the next issue where many more technologies including IT solutions will be featured.
Even as technology providers move into the future, in a wave of retail bankruptcies, over 8,600 retail stores closure is being projected. Consumers are shifting a greater percentage of their disposable income to ‘experiences’ rather than ‘shopping’, creating an ‘adapt or die’ situation for retailers. Ed Gribbin, President, Alvanon Inc. suggests some of the ways through which retailers can sustain in a competitive environment.
Another interesting read in this issue is WFX Cloud ERP that has integrated new features into the solution such as ‘Analytics’ tool, which enables control over complete supply chain, and ‘Alert System’ that notifies the user before the deadline. Also, the second part of Kaizen Korner series addresses Lean Manufacturing, where David Permenter, Educational Director, DCC Print Vision LLC, tells how to identify waste and eliminate it.
So, does that mean Industry 4.0 is actually about taking production back to the West…? I have my reservations on how relevant Industry 4.0 is for the manufacturing world today. Even before automation has properly been adopted in Asia and other developing nations where production is happening, the focus of technology providers is already shifting to the next phase without fully perfecting the automation stage and making it suitable to the needs of the countries that are leading production today…
Can the technology providers afford to ignore the requirements of these manufacturing destinations, which are their biggest selling markets…? I don’t think so! In reality, the Texprocess platform is about the future, though in manufacturing countries the push is still on selling automation.
Most industry experts agree that the future is still a mystery and difficult to predict, what’s sure is that it would be very different from today and if companies do not start preparing now, they would be wiped out of business…
Our analysis of Texprocess is an attempt to decode Industry 4.0 as the debate gets louder… The same will continue in the next issue where many more technologies including IT solutions will be featured.
Even as technology providers move into the future, in a wave of retail bankruptcies, over 8,600 retail stores closure is being projected. Consumers are shifting a greater percentage of their disposable income to ‘experiences’ rather than ‘shopping’, creating an ‘adapt or die’ situation for retailers. Ed Gribbin, President, Alvanon Inc. suggests some of the ways through which retailers can sustain in a competitive environment.
Another interesting read in this issue is WFX Cloud ERP that has integrated new features into the solution such as ‘Analytics’ tool, which enables control over complete supply chain, and ‘Alert System’ that notifies the user before the deadline. Also, the second part of Kaizen Korner series addresses Lean Manufacturing, where David Permenter, Educational Director, DCC Print Vision LLC, tells how to identify waste and eliminate it.
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