German innovation, source of so many elegant upgrades to that original yet rigid version of the auto plant, is now a force behind a new concept in vehicle production—and it can be applicable to many other industrial activities as well. It’s a move away from the
preordained product path to a truly dynamic factory flow, one that permits customization of vehicles right up to the last minute.
One simple example would be fitting the seats or the audio system of a Porsche into a Volkswagen of the same vehicle class. This design-assembly variation can happen seamlessly because it is supported by the factory’s Manufacturing Execution System IT solution. You can think of it as a design-build software ecosystem with nearly infinite permutations scripted in and then carried out intuitively. Each vehicle is a smart product moving autonomously through assembly from one CPS-enabled processing module to another.
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Germany leads the way
This new level of innovation unfolds in the context of the developed world’s fourth industrial revolution. In Germany, it goes by the name Industrie 4.0. History is eclipsing our three prior leaps forward, which were based on mechanization, electrical power and information technology. The era to come is being defined by machine-to-machine (M2M) interfacing and what’s called the Internet of Things and Services.
All global centers of technology are seeking to embrace this next transformation of industry and society, but the approach to be found in Germany is one that’s unsurpassed worldwide—bold in nature yet comprehensive in its detail and execution. “Developments in combining more traditional manufacturing methods with advances in high tech are gaining traction across a wide range of industries,” says Dietmar Rieg, President & CEO of the German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. “We strive to facilitate both traditional methods and innovation through initiatives utilizing our established network of companies.”
In March of 2012, the German government enacted its High-Tech Strategy 2020 Action Plan, with a target year for achievement of goals built right into the name. None of the ten components in the plan stir the imagination more than Industrie 4.0, yet each represents a high ambition for tapping into society’s potential. Called “Future Projects,” they include individualized medicine for combating illness; secure personal identities; sustainable mobility; and establishment of the “future city,” which will be CO2-neutral, energy-efficient and climate-adapted. A budget of EUR 8.4 billion has been allocated for the period 2012-2015 to implement the various measures of the Action Plan.
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Toward even more efficiency
These are lofty aims, but Germany undertakes them from a starting point of already being the world’s most energy-efficient nation, boasting an industrial sector that is also the world’s most efficient. The country’s public-private effort to reinvent industry is well underway, leveraging a tech landscape capable of astounding anyone who is paying attention. If one did nothing more than understand the switch from our worn-out Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to its supergiant successor—known as IPv6—that would help explain the scale of what is now possible by way of smart factories, smart highways and cities, machine-to-environment communication, cloud computing, e-health and many other pathways of progress. The capacity of IPv6 to assign IP addresses to just about every object on the planet makes connectivity and its far-reaching benefits seemingly unlimited.
Embedded systems, a vital component of tech infrastructure at which Germany excels, are one of several building blocks for the Internet of Things. It is part of the new and vital industrial capacity to eliminate the gaps between forces and objects, between handling systems and items to be handled. This means motors don’t run unless needed, energy gets recaptured and risk of every sort along supply chains is defined and managed via precise metrics.
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How humans stay in the loop
Like the auto plant that’s no longer purely linear, Industrie 4.0 and its vital assets represent a decentralization of industrial processes. That organizing principle, wherein all data and materials pass through one operational and strategic base, can finally fall away. The result is a new form of interconnection—denser, faster and capable of achieving a nearly total integration of assets and needs. Industrie 4.0 technologies are already being deployed in Germany’s energy landscape, with intelligent networks—smart grids that enable optimal management of renewable energy power generation—emerging as one of the first application areas for the Internet of Things.
Software designers understand that it’s unsustainable for intuitive machines to leave people in the dust, so there is even a science to getting the human being looped back into the M2M interface. Most drivers know that triumphant moment when they realize the rain has stopped quicker than the windshield sensors do, and it’s a feeling that translates to the floor of a smart factory. Having a window into M2M data flow and automation is part of the continuing process in which machines serve human needs under all conditions. So-called smart industrial assistance systems are now being designed and deployed to deliver on this promise. They are equipped with “multimodal user interfaces,” a functionality that delivers digital learning technologies directly into the workplace.
The pace of new learning for individuals and societies is accelerating and will continue to speed up. That’s good news, given that time is short for solving our problems of sustainability and planetary resources. Look for Industrie 4.0 and Germany’s dedication to its potential as a laboratory for that learning.
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