Audi leading the way for smart automotive production

As automotive industry is taking steps towards automated production processes, Audi has decided to take the trend to the next level. According to the article by Automotive Manufacturing Solutions Audi’s vision for the future encompasses collaborative robots, 3D printing and cars driven from the assembly line in piloted mode. “Automobile production as we know it today will no longer exist in the future. It will become more connected, more intelligent and more efficient,” remarks Hubert Waltl, Audi’s board of management member for production. Some intelligent production processes have already been implemented in Germany. Read more about Audi’s smart factory concept:

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The most read articles of Industrial Internet Now in 2015

The past year has brought numerous new advancements in the field of the industrial internet, and also sparked a great deal of thought-provoking discussion and articles. Some of the most discussed topics this year include those relating to hackathons, leadership and the change in the tasks of the industrial workforce. Below are the five most read articles in Industrial Internet Now in 2015.

5. Big data a key factor at the beginning of the supply chain

Jacqui Taylor, CEO of FlyingBinary, explained why people are the key for the Internet of Things. Taylor gives concrete advice on what a company should pay attention to when the transformation initiated by big data starts. Taylor explains that the technology on its own is there, but the question is what you can do with it, and how you’re going to explain the impact and the transformation that is needed in the organization. Nonetheless, using big data technology to construct the supply chain in a new way allows you to put your focus on the customer in a way that has never been possible before.

https://industrialinternetnow.com/big-data-a-key-factor-at-the-beginning-of-the-supply-chain/

4. Industrial Internet changes the way we approach a machine

How has the way of operating a machine changed with the Industrial Internet? Juha Pankakoski, CDO at Konecranes aims to explain how the changing technology gives us new ways to operate machinery, and what possibilities this brings for businesses. According to Pankakoski, new technology and the Industrial Internet enable us to rethink existing processes. In his experience, the amount of possibilities and benefits brought on by those applications often exceed all expectations.

https://industrialinternetnow.com/industrial-internet-changes-the-way-we-approach-a-machine/

3. How to hack an industrial crane

First ever IndustryHack Hackathon event was held on February 6-8. The Hackathon was the first to be organized as part of the IndustryHack series of ten industrial Hackathons, and the article addresses some of the key results from the event. The winning application in this Hackathon was an application developed by Valuemotive. The winning team’s idea focused on the customers’ challenges and included integration of ERP systems and crane operation.

https://industrialinternetnow.com/how-to-hack-an-industrial-crane/

2. Key findings from the Industry of Things World Survey report 2015

A report on a large survey sent to hundreds of IoT-professionals around the globe. Although many of the results were as expected, there were also a number of striking findings. Maria Relaki, Director of Product & Content at we.CONECT Global Leaders, shares some of the key insights the study found. According to Relaki, a decisive factor for companies aiming to be the early birds in IoT adoption is the presence of an innovative and forward-looking leadership.

https://industrialinternetnow.com/key-findings-from-the-industry-of-things-world-survey-report-2015/

1. New renaissance in manufacturing

Gary Mintchell, an acclaimed writer, advisor and speaker on technology and manufacturing shared his thoughts on the ups and downs of digitalization and what role humans play in the process of manufacturing goods in the future. The technological developments allow us to focus on how we can further use technology like robotics, working alongside people to make processes more effective and, furthermore, how we can have people and technology working together safely.

https://industrialinternetnow.com/new-renaissance-in-manufacturing/

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IoT creates flexibility and optimized manufacturing processes

Industrial Internet for manufacturing is quickly affecting the efficiency and down time of factories. Predictive maintenance and flexible manufacturing concepts are making it easier to fix problems and adapt to the fast changing conditions companies face every day. From automotive to pulp-and-paper, these innovations make companies more creative in their offerings and help them to be more competitive. The concept of a smart factory is deeply discussed in a Control Engineering article by Daymon Thompson. “Manufacturers need flexible manufacturing lines that can quickly adapt to rapidly changing customer demands. This calls for flexible machines that are able to run a multitude of product types, with the ultimate goal of profitably production at reduced lot sizes, enabling a complex mixture of products to be run and filled on-demand,” Thompson writes. Read more about how Industrial Internet could be put into smart factories at:
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/putting-industry-40-and-the-industrial-internet-of-things-to-work-in-smart-factories/87544dce4b1534f49b51514730908386.html

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Ask Our Experts: A case example for Pulp & Paper industries

Doesn’t the use of Industrial Internet just make things more complicated and vulnerable?

The converting line operator has a practical problem because he has no rolls coming in on the conveyor from the automatic warehouse. He couldn’t care less about any “Industrial Internet“.

George R, United States

Thank you for your question, George.

To solve the mentioned problem and get the rolls moving in as soon as possible, remote connection can in fact provide valuable help.

Through a remote connection, the crane automation specialist can immediately see from the log-files that the crane has stopped precisely at 15:07:43 hours with its load hanging in the roll gripper on the top of the outfeed conveyor. He can also see the rolls ID number, its diameter, width and weight.

A missing hardwired safety signal from the conveyor is traced from the short term data logs in a few minutes. With the cameras on board the crane, the specialist can also see that there is no roll on the conveyor output and that it’s empty.

A safety signal is released by the conveyor automation (PLC) when the conveyor is empty and ready to receive a roll and if not released, the crane is stopped within a safety distance to avoid collision risk. Now – with this information- the operator can check the conveyor and either drive it empty on manual command or reset it and let the process go on.

This way the remote connection, sensoring and video monitoring on board the crane can save hours of troubleshooting time.

Hannu Piispanen, Industry Specialist, Pulp and Paper, Konecranes

Do you have a question regarding Industrial Internet in a material handling context? Our experts are happy to answer them! Please send in your questions to

Industrial Internet Now reserves the right to edit and possibly shorten the questions before publishing.

IoT upgrades manufacturing companies from traditional to pioneers

Big data is one innovation that is developing manufacturing to be even more of a high-tech pioneer industry. According to Irish Times, one of the reasons for this is that the industry is at the top in terms of the amount of data it generates. “Traditionally, manufacturing has been a very conservative industry, but over the last two to three years, with the technologies of the internet of things, they’ve been able to unleash a new level of productivity,” says Maciej Kranz, vice-president of the corporate technology group at Cisco. Read more about the role of manufacturing as a Big Data front runner:

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Ask Our Experts: Enabling digital services for all equipment at production site

I understand the potential that visibility to the actual condition and status of singular equipment brings. Trouble is that we have a very long manufacturing history on our site and the equipment we use are from variety of different brands. I’ve understood that the benefits would be found best when all the equipment at the production site would be under digital services. What kind of solutions there are for this?

Tommi M, Finland

Thank you for your question, Tommi. If we think about the benefits that could be achieved when all equipment would enable digital services, three things come to mind;

1) Efficient and quick summary views – critical status and condition can be spotted, even when the amount of equipment would be large. Then corrective actions can be started as soon as possible. Traffic light principles are great here.

2) Comparison of the equipment with each other – usage, criticality and costs, for example, could be viewed in graphical form. That way actions can be directed where they are needed the most.

3) Manufacturing process planning becomes possible. If a site includes machine tools, fork lifts and other lifting equipment, the bottlenecks can be spotted by viewing the usage levels of all equipment. This way possible new investments are done based on actual usage data. We sure don’t want to make investments with our gut feeling, right?

As an answer to your original question, I suggest you approach the service providers in your area. There are players who can enable digital services for many different types of equipment from many different manufacturers.

Ilkka Blomqvist, Product Group Manager, Digital Services at Konecranes

Do you have a question regarding Industrial Internet in a material handling context? Our experts are happy to answer them! Please send in your questions to

Industrial Internet Now reserves the right to edit and possibly shorten the questions before publishing.

Smart industry also exists outside the factory walls

An era where physical and analogue processes are transformed into digitally-controlled systems and platforms is now said to be closer than ever. The term “smart” is often linked to the discussion when talking about the future manufacturing. But what does this mean exactly? Is there more than a smart factory? How about the whole supply chain of manufacturing? Boris Felgendreher, Director of Marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at GT Nexus, highlights in Euroasia Industry article that the application of smart technologies is not limited to the factory space. “Right now approximately 80 per cent of the data that is required in order to make smart supply chain decisions is situated outside of the factory’s four walls,” he says. “The true value of the IoT for industry lies in its ability to enable the extraction of the relevant data and analytics that occur on a micro-level, and scale them across the entire manufacturing ecosystem,” Felgendreher continues. Read more about how efficiencies are being implemented at:

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How will the Industrial Internet affect global material flows?

The Industry of Things World was held in Berlin on September 21 – 22.2015 and Industrial Internet Now was present. Two days of inspirational keynotes, workshops, panel discussions and networking activities drew together hundreds of decision-makers from 40 different countries to gain a deeper business and technical understanding of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet landscape.

Industrial Internet Now asked six experts about their views on how the Industrial Internet will affect global material flows.

What are the key benefits of Industrial Internet for process industries?

Industrial Internet Now interviewed six experts on what they see are they key benefits that the Industrial Internet brings to process industries.

World’s first “smart” port brings industrial internet to the loading docks

Interested in real-time data of precise ship arrival time and the fastest land travel routes? Good. In Germany, dockworkers will soon be tapping into a mobile app to see when ships will arrive. “As giant container ships pull into the Port of Hamburg, Germany, in the coming years, an array of new technologies will define the future of the $4 trillion global shipping industry,” states in the article published in Rewrite. The new logistics platform of Hamburg Porth Authority is called a smartPort. Is the application going to change the way we handle ships and containers? Explore the core elements of the smartPort Initiative at: http://rewrite.ca.com/us/articles/application-economy/the-industrial-internet-comes-to-the-loading-docks.aspx

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