Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution for the Circular Economy

whitePaper | June 7, 2022

Manufacturing organizations benefit from the automation brought by the Third Industrial Revolution, but struggle to extract value from and manage the massive volumes of data created by 20th Century process innovation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) - now present - promises to offer tools to unlock the value of these massive quantities of data with the use of technologies such as Data Analytics, Machine Learning & Industrial IoT. However, manufacturing companies still struggle to convert this data value into business outcomes due to the proliferation of data silos, and the overwhelming prevalence of complex and unwieldy data supply chains which leaves data in an unmanageable state.

whitePaper | December 6, 2022

Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) create significant challenges for users and manufacturers of systems and devices. Most machine and system manufacturers as well as most production companies lack adequate experience when it comes to using smart networks. Even though, modular automation concepts with increasingly decentral distribution of control intelligence have already been around for some time. The decentral components – including safety controllers – communicate more and more via network technologies. However, many manufacturers and users hardly think about security issues. Cybercriminals use this fact to sabotage or extort companies, or to carry out espionage

whitePaper | October 3, 2022

If yours is like most businesses today, you run a tight ship. When you see problems on your production line, you do not wait to solve them, and the result is a lean operation that does not let issues linger or snowball into larger problems. But it is impossible to fix what you cannot see or track. While Industry 4.0 is often a buzzword, Watlow® is already providing solutions that are helping manufacturers proactively forecast future issues and reduce costs. Given that the average cost of an hour of downtime in manufacturing was $532,000 in 2021, there is so much opportunity for businesses to save money with Industry 4.0.

whitePaper | August 30, 2022

Unexpected change costs in automotive manufacturing investment projects can quickly lead to spiraling costs and delays in production unless carefully managed. Any changes to production schedules and machinery must be meticulously planned. But without the correct information to base a plan, problems may multiply instead of being resolved.

whitePaper | June 12, 2022

Automation has been a driving force behind greater productivity and efficiency in manufacturing companies since the 1980s. In the 2020s, a new generation of applications will enable even more production companies to benefit from the potential of automated processes. Advances in sensor technology and networking enable increasingly complex tasks to be performed reliably and safely by robots. Thanks to high-performance sensor technology, they can automatically react to many changing circumstances. Connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), the robots automatically provide information about progress and incidents. Via a remote connection, the IoT technology can be provided with new instructions, monitored, and remotely operated if necessary.

whitePaper | April 4, 2022

Digital transformation is driving the adoption of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing. Multiple technologies, such as internet of things (IoT) devices and artificial intelligence (AI), are changing manufacturing processes. For instance, more is being done with robotics, 3D printing, and industrial clouds. Employees need to digest all these innovations to enable new ways for them to do their jobs properly. Around the globe, industries have implemented work-from-home policies. In most manufacturing companies, there is a mixture of employees from the business office to the factory floor, and manufacturers can now instantly enable remote work for these employees.