The economy is on the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution. Industry 4.0 stands for digital networking in industry, whether in vehicle design, mechanical engineering or transportation. The individualization of products, under the conditions of highly flexible (large-scale) production, is in the interest of the economy. The main factors are networking and data exchange. Information is exchanged in order to be able to react intelligently to each other. In the future, machines will constantly communicate with each other and continuously improve their processes. Not only among themselves, but throughout the entire value chain, from goods receipt to distribution. An equally important Industrie 4.0 process is the evaluation of this collected data.
There is a special term for the equipping of all objects and processes with sensors and digital information paths: The Internet of Things. Thanks to networking through the Internet, the real and virtual worlds grow together to create an Internet of Things. Of course, customers and suppliers are also integrated into the networked world.
Customers are increasingly demanding a one-off, right down to batch size 1. This only works with intelligent manufacturing. The factory of the future can react flexibly and quickly – and thus increase efficiency. Production is exclusively based on real demand. This puts the focus on the customer more than ever before.