Is your network holding you back from creating a 'smart factory'?

摘要

Increasingly advanced automation using robotics, AGVs, smart machines and integrated logistics means that having a 'smart factory' is becoming a necessity to remain competitive. John Browett, general manager at CLPA Europe, looks at how the right industrial network can jumpstart your smart factory. Connectivity is the keyword when talking about Industry 4.0 and the rest of the digital revolution. In fact, communication is the backbone of all the industrial components used to realise the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), as it brings together different entities on the factory floor, e.g. hardware devices, software tools and people. It allows them to collect, communicate and analyse data. By doing so, the industrial machines - and consequently the entire enterprise - become intelligent systems, able to improve plant performance, productivity and flexibility.