By Mike Esposito of Motion Automation Intelligence
Digital and physical integration enables automation to evolve, improving industry’s position to meet customers’ growing needs.
Society has embraced digital transformation (DX) and the internet of things (IoT), now in everyday use. We add bread and milk to our Alexa grocery lists to review while at the store, collect health data on our smartwatches to provide to our doctors, and track cycling routes on our phones for future planning and sharing with friends around the country. We have become reliant on the benefits of connecting our devices while producing and consuming large amounts of data.
For the food & beverage industry, digital transformation using automation enabled by the industrial internet of things (IIoT) offers similar supply chain and operational benefits. These may include increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), more refined and agile processes, improved food safety, achieving sustainability objectives, or addressing the growing manufacturing skills gap. These topics are frequently discussed between Motion Automation Intelligence’s engineers and our customers.
Though Industry 4.0 is a confusing topic and digital tools do not come with a user’s guide explaining their purpose or describing steps to ensure your success, an estimated 75% of industrial companies have a detailed DX roadmap.
A recent International Data Corp. Worldwide Digital Transformation report indicated that worldwide DX spending is forecast to reach nearly $3.9 trillion in 2027, with approximately 25% spent on IIoT. This shows that most businesses no longer view digital transformation as a luxury but a necessity. Businesses need DX to differentiate their products or simply keep up with the competition and consumers’ dynamic demands.
Digital transformation will look different for every industrial company. However, the path forward will typically focus on replacing paper processing with digital tools, committing to continuous improvement using data and connected technologies, and deploying IIoT-enabled automation for manual, repetitive tasks.
Automation transformed industry during the third industrial revolution—enabling faster and more consistent operations, creating better methods of achieving quality results and reducing reliance on human intervention. Motion supplied devices to many food & beverage customers, such as electric linear actuators to ensure precise positioning, and vibration sensors to detect worn bearings. Toward the end of Industry 3.0, these offerings added robots to work side-by-side with humans. In the past, these devices were often siloed or could impact production or processing only minimally compared to today’s capabilities.
During Industry 4.0, automation has been enhanced by integrating data management systems (information technology, or IT) with industrial operation systems (operational technology, or OT). IIoT devices and machinery, incorporating the capabilities of the internet, are networked to collect and distribute data, enabling systems to automatically adapt processes or provide insight into operational performance.
For food and beverage companies needing access to data for real-time decision-making, from supply chain through production and delivery, digital transformation is essential.
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