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Markets + Trends
| News for Process Automation 1/2016
today – are facilitating a truly flexible approach to production. These
networked structures are making it possible for communication to
be adapted, both vertically within a factory and horizontally along the
value chain. In this respect, data security is just as important as
finding a new, flexible approach to abstracting information sources
and achieving a global consensus on a standardized protocol.
In order to drive developments over the next industrial revolution, the
German trade associations for information technology (BITKOM), the
electronics industry (ZVEI), and mechanical engineering (VDMA) have
launched “Plattform Industrie 4.0” (Platform Industry 4.0). Within the
context of this initiative, representatives from the fields of politics,
industry, and science, as well as trade unions, are working together
to make recommendations to help achieve a networked Industry 4.0.
This mix of backgrounds serves to highlight the fact that Industry 4.0
is an interdisciplinary concept. The challenges of the next industrial
revolution can only be mastered by companies from the IT, mechanical
engineering, and automation technology sectors working closely
together.
Standardized
and Borderless
A standardized protocol where all the elements of
an automation solution agree – a key factor for the
smart factory of Industry 4.0.
Around 7,000 different languages are spoken worldwide. That is why
English is so often used as a bridge to help people of different nationali-
ties understand each other. As production processes are more and
more networked, a common basis for understanding is becoming
important. This is particularly crucial in light of current developments
in the industry: To ensure that all the elements involved in the production
process of the smart factory of the future – from the plant to the
product – can communicate with one another, a common, standard-
ized protocol is essential.
Global Consensus on One Protocol
The concept of Industry 4.0 is breaking through borders that in many
cases are still in place today. It is bringing systems that previously
were separate much closer together: Going forward, it will not only
be possible to exchange and process data across all levels of the
automation pyramid within a company, but also globally between all
industries. The new network structures that are emerging – without the
vertical separation into layers within the company that is still common
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