SOFTWARE & SYSTEMS
INDUSTRY 4.0
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY
THE CHALLENGES AND RISK OF ADOPTING
TECHNOLOGY WHICH WILL DRIVE
MAXIMUM VALUE OUT OF THE PLANT
Paul Robinson, Senior Consultant in the
Digital Transformation Group at World
Wide Technology, comments: “Material
shortages, eroding profit margins, increasing
international competition, and slowing
productivity rates have created a perfect
storm for the British manufacturing industry.
As if this weren’t enough, manufacturers are
also facing more sophisticated cybersecurity
threats and an ever-widening shortage
of skilled precision engineers to support
modern systems and get the most value out
of the plants.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is pushing
manufacturers into a world of new
technology, software, and connectivity
with the potential to alleviate many of
the industry’s pain points. Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT) has the potential
to revolutionise the factory floor and
significantly cut labour costs whilst enabling
predicted maintenance to drive further
efficiencies. Data collected through IIoT
systems can flag up whether process lines
are performing at their maximum capability
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and provide invaluable business insights.
However, as the connectivity in the plant
increases so does the security attack vector
which can only be addressed through a
security model including both technology
and education.
At the same time, pioneering machine-
learning methods provide smarter business
decisions in the plants which can tackle
the growing talent shortage by translating
decades of experience into an algorithm.
This can be used by artificial intelligence
to automate and tailor solutions to each
process, supporting the existing experience
and expertise found at the plants
Rushing to deploy massive transformational
strategies may, however, be counter-
productive. If you want to achieve the best
results, it is essential that you conduct a
series of ideation sessions to understand
specific business needs before integrating
new technologies. The first step would be
to bridge the gap between Information
Technology (IT) and Operational Technology
(OT) departments, which are often managed
by siloed teams with differing priorities.
WWT’s Advanced Technology Center (ATC)
can further support the adoption process by
providing a globally accessible best-of-breed
technology test bed showing the end-to-end
integration of the IT and OT environments.
This environment also performs as a
showcase for technology to counter security
vulnerabilities and drastically reduce the risk
of cyber attacks.
Finessing strategy before rushing to
implement technologies will set your
connected factory apart and ensure that
your innovative approach will translate
into real business outcomes long-term. The
vital difference will be the approach taken
to integrating Industry 4.0, rather than the
technology itself.”
www.wwt.com
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