Photo: Gorodenkoff-Shutterstock
In the digital age, an old Heraclitus proverb says: “Nothing remains so unchanged and changes again.” Transformation has affected all areas of the economy, especially manufacturing companies. Refusing to change is doomed to failure. Just like those who hope to get rid of the long-term uninterrupted digital revolution through island thinking or internal isolation solutions, this is the beginning of Industry 4.0.
In the past fifty years, although the progress of industrial production has shown linear growth, facts have proved that the road to Industry 4.0 is disruptive. The focus is on the digitization of previous simulation processes and technologies on the one hand, and on the other hand to change the characteristics of the business model. Industrial-manufactured products are always a combination of the product itself (hardware) and services tailored to it.
In a study of the role of IT in this mixed situation, industry association Bitkom concluded that Industry 4.0 is undoubtedly an “economic game changer” that has a huge impact on global economic relations. In particular, companies that hold their data have huge potential. The time factor is crucial. The current market changes are happening at an unprecedented rate, and-this has caused serious problems for the previous market leaders-start-ups from outside the industry are driving this trend with tremendous force.
Photo: Bitkom
Industry 4.0 has the destructive potential of large-scale expansion of traditional business models, which are usually limited to one core product. Machines and products are now generally equipped with software, and can be connected to the Internet through communication functions. The resulting Internet of Things (IoT) has taken the optimization of the value chain to new heights-creating an entire product portfolio around existing “core products”.
In Industry 4.0, IT plays the role of a fire accelerator that promotes the value creation process. And have wisdom. Industry 4.0 includes not only smart products, but also smart logistics, smart energy, etc. The development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) and self-learning systems play a central role.
Detlef Krause, regional vice president of ServiceNow, Germany, believes that the close connection between IT and OT (operational technology) is the key to achieving sustainable production conditions, which are completely independent of wage discussions and labor supply on a global scale: production islands and their Complex industrial applications (OT) and classic IT environments (IT) must grow together rapidly. ”
Picture: ServiceNow
Background: OT, or operating technology (hardware and software that monitors and controls the performance of physical equipment), was only used in industrial control systems and other fields in the past. Unlike IT departments, the operating systems of these systems have not yet been connected to the network.
However, Krause hopes that common growth requires a common foundation. ServiceNow, the market leader of American digital workflow platforms, provides a real problem solution in this situation through its Now Platform. Many existing platforms configured as systems of record can indeed map processes, even though they are fairly static and inactive as information storage systems. On the contrary, the Now platform, as a mobile system, is clearly designed for interaction and integration.
This creates new options, especially in manufacturing. Because the prerequisite for OT automation is a high degree of automation within IT. The global company Siemens has already taken this step. With the Now Platform, 98% of IT processes worldwide have been automated. As a result, the highly complex methods previously characterized by manual workload have been greatly simplified, reducing costs, and increasing global IT efficiency. Matthias Egelhaaf, PhD, Siemens Program Director, firmly believes that Now Platform will “improve the speed of business beyond IT.”
General Electrics, the world’s largest digital industry company, also regards automated IT as the basis for optimizing production processes. GE now uses the ServiceNow platform as an ITSM system for all departments around the world. The adaptation is no longer the platform (previously used), but the process. A huge success has been achieved, saving $7 million in costs each year.
Picture: ServiceNow
This not only ensures data, but also ensures the workflow and IT interlocking in various fields (such as production, development, marketing, logistics, and customer service) without silos. In order to coordinate, manage and control all of these, however, an overall platform like ServiceNow is needed. The Now Platform is closely connected to the company’s infrastructure and is ready to support functions important to the manufacturing industry, such as predictive analytics and maintenance-and of course the Internet of Things.
The Internet of Things component is very useful on the Now Platform, because the Internet of Things is only limited to connected devices at first glance. The field should be broader, and process should be the focus of consideration. ServiceNow Chief Innovation Officer Dave Wright initially saw the great potential of digital transformation of manual processes: “We will be able to see the status and performance of interconnected OT systems, and we will be able to move anywhere, Wright said, interfaces can access this data.
Therefore, ServiceNow is currently committed to officially launching IoT Connected Operations, which has been used by pilot customers in the next version of the Now platform. This allows IoT data from various sources to be linked with all other services of the user company on the Now Platform to coordinate the workflow.
ServiceNow will also enable the company to build a digital twin of the system by configuring the system. Dave Wright said: “You can basically digitize the operating instructions so that you have all the operating parameters in a digital system.” The rules engine can then be used to determine what should happen when a single parameter reaches a certain value. On this basis, for example, maintenance plans based on events or usage conditions can be formulated for industrial plants, and maintenance personnel can be controlled. In the best sense, these activities can be part of a marketable service.
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