【 Industrial 4.0 】All you need to know - Updated 2020

Technology is getting better day after day with the different advancements in technology. Today everything operates on the latest technology. No one can imagine a single day's life without technology. Technology is an essential need of today’s life that cannot be neglected. Different technologies are used daily in different means and modes. Technology produces a vital role in the industry sector in various means. Without technology the industry was slow and productivity of the industry was less. With the advancements in technology, the industry got better and better. Today the whole industry of the world is automated which means different units and devices are used to automate an industry. With automation industry can be operated perfectly with increased productivity. The main focus of the researchers is to automate the industry perfectly and to increase its production of the industry.

Different combinations of the technologies used in the industry and the different manufacturing platforms used in the industry are combined to form the latest smart technologies which are termed Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is the combination of various automation techniques and other smart technologies used in different industries. The most important parameter in industry 4.0 is the internet of things (IoT). The Internet of things is used to automate an industry or any other commercial or domestic level unit. The other main parameter of industry 4.0 is the M2M used at a large scale. These two key features are the focus in industry 4.0. Smart machines are being developed and the machines which are divided into various sectors and need to be combined with various components are also being automated with the help of programmable logic controllers. PLC is the most used automation technique which is being practiced all over the world. Other automation devices are also available such as PAC and MAC which are also used to automate different industrial sectors. As industry 4.0 technology is effective several factories are being automated. The machines are given control to operate the industry and communicate between the different sectors of the industry.

Industry 4.0 is not a model or some ideal having some fixed parameters, it is just the name of technologies or the combination of smart industrial techniques and technologies to control industry in a better way. Before industry 4.0, the old previous technologies used to operate were categorized as industry 1.0, industry 2.0 and industry 3.0 as well. It is obvious that if we step back and look towards the previous technologies to control different sectors not only industrial sectors all other sectors it can be seen that today those sectors are being controlled in a good manner. The previous technologies or the techniques used to run an industry were termed as Industry 3.0 and the techniques before those techniques used to operate and control and industry would be termed as industry 2.0 and industry 1.0 respectively. Industry 4.0 is just the evolution of the different previous techniques used in previous decades. To answer the question of what happened to the industry 1.0, industry 2.0 and industry 3.0 it can be stated that the previous technologies used in the industry 1.0 to industry 3.0 have been upgraded with the advancements in the technologies. Or it can be answered that the previous industry 1.0 to industry 3.0 techniques are upgraded with the advancements in the technology.

The manufacturing technology or technique in which the computers are used for the manufacturing process is called smart manufacturing. The computer integrated manufacturing technique is effective in its productivity. High level of adaptability can be achieved by this smart manufacturing, rapid design changes are also possible and digital information technology is used in this smart manufacturing technique. A number of technologies are combined together to form a smart manufacturing system. However, the important technologies utilized are industrial connectivity devices and services, big data handling capabilities and the advanced robotics. Smart manufacturing increase the productivity of an industrial unit. Similarly, this technology increases the safety of the work place and the safety of the workers with its smart technologies. Smart manufacturing is being tested and implemented in numerous industrial plants due to its visible benefits.

The Internet of things is used to easily control several things. A simple home automation project is used to control various appliances of the home with ease. In the same manner, the Industrial IoT is used to control the different units of industry. The industrial IoT which is also termed as IIoT links with the control and automation of various sensors, devices, and instruments with the help of computers. Different industrial applications use the IIoT for manufacturing processes and also for the management of different units of the industry. The IIoT is for the collection of the data, data exchange and data analysis. The IIoT is also used to monitor the different units of industry. IIoT can also detect an error in a specific unit and also triggers the warning in case of any error detection. By using the IIoT, the productivity of an industry can be boosted. IIoT provides a higher degree of automation which ease the management of the industry and also the efficiency of the industry is improved in various terms. Economical benefits are also attained by using the IIoT. Different communication protocols are used in the IIoT which include wireless communications, wired communications as well. The IIoT is supposed to be the evolution of the DCS which allows a higher degree of automation for the industrial sector.