Data, the most essential element in Industry 4.0

In previous blog, I made the argument that decision-making is the core of Industry 4.0 and I would like to discuss more about “data”, the most essential element of Industry 4.0

In order to make decisions, we will examine many different data, for example, when we want to decide how much to make, we check the sales history, we check open orders, we check inventory, WIP…internal data and also refer some external data such as market status, competitor information…so that we can make the decision of “how much to make”. Without data, we cannot do any analysis and hardly make good decisions. Therefore, I believe data is the most essential element for decision-making and Industry 4.0.

Some might ask, Why automation? Why IoT? Well, I will say, that is the way we collect data. In old days, we relied on operators to input transaction data in transactional systems (MES, ERP…) to record activities (data of activities). But are the data real-time? are the data reliable? If all the data are automatically fed into system via these automation systems, users can expect more real-time, reliable data. Before IoT, some of the data are not available or hard to be obtained, for example, logistics information such as truck movement. This information can be updated only when truck arrives and the driver reports his duty. With IoT, more and more “things” can be connected, people can get more data for making decisions. Because of range of data availability, the quality of decision, speed of decisions can all be improved. When decisions are made, the instructions (actions) also need to be sent to execution and again how the instructions are sent is also improved due to automation and IoT.

Because of data drive all decisions, I think how to manage data, use data, analyze data is the key to success for Industry 4.0. If enterprise wants to be “Industry 4.0”, they need to think about how they will do with data.

If the enterprise does not have the capability to collect, store data, it needs to start with the capability to collect/store data related its activities. And it needs to think what kind of data is required to support their business decisions.

Enterprise which has data needs to think about how they can analyze the data, build its analytics capability (from descriptive to prescriptive). This part is a process of evolution, needs to be adjusted, calibrated with more and more data collected, more and more results obtained.

No matter which stage the enterprise is, what capability the enterprise has, the common and fundamental part is to have a good data platform to hold, store data and support analytics. The platform shall take transactions, integrate with automation, work with IoT, support Big Data, collaborate with Cloud…

So, want to go “Industry 4.0”? Think about the data first, think about data platform first.