4.0 Industry Technologies relevant to the Supply Chain

Advanced society calls for cutting-edge and customised services and products; to cope with companies and people’s requirements, it is crucial to run out a more efficient and smarter approach of production, bigger cost-effectiveness of the process, thoroughly cutting costs and minor manufacturing times; to sum up, improving production.

At present, Supply Chain (SCs) are one of the principal sectors in which the use of these technologies could originate a revolution in the optimisation and automation of processes.

Integration of technologies in smart factories

As a result, the 4th Industrial Revolution is regarded as being the foundation of intelligent factories, which apply and encompass edge-technologies such as Cyber-physical systems, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a process that creates a physical object from a digital design.

Operating these technologies makes it possible to reach the necessary optimisation and automation to cut costs and manufacturing times, whilst producing a great amount of product configurations, to manufacture very small collections of merchandises at an incredible low cost.

The principal obstacles that supply chains confront at present, are the need of transparency through the end-to-end chain and the complexity in tracking down the goods running through it.

Supply Chain interested parties

For instance, global companies transporting goods in containers raise their cost of managing the shipping due to the official authorisation and procedures of each countries implicated in the process. So, deficiency on transparent information and possibilities of efficiently tracking the assets, contribute to slow down the process, raising the costs radically. 

That is the cause why the deploying and mishmash of the IoT, Blockchain and Big data techs interrelated to the 4th Industrial Revolution will indicate a milestone in the production processes.

IoT technologies applied to different Industries

When we talk about the industry context; here is where the term Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) originates. The gadgets forming part of these edge-ecosystems must be well manage, as authentication and communications among them are essential; breakdowns in the collection, processing or storing of the delivered data might cause devastating outcomes across the manufacture chain and at the same time, on human losses.

Crucial application of these technology

The decentralised, unalterable and integrated management of data is crucial; this is where Blockchain tech can deliver an enormous value, thanks to its relevance, the action and characteristics of each encompassed device can be recorded in the production system, with no risk of alteration of the data and the consequences it might carry.

Moreover, the Blockchain can be incorporated throughout communication protocols among machines, granting the formation of a new economy among the own devices in which they can reach agreements on supplies of raw materials, logistics, maintenance, energy, parts, via Smart Contracts which payment will be completed automatically the moment the set-up conditions established beforehand, are met.

This integration encompasses the reorganisation and automation of multiples processes that require a considerable in-between steps across in-progress production process. These procedures, plus the dramatic fall in the involvement of third parties and human-regulatory would reduce greatly the resulting-expense included. This way, the reduction in marginal costs is crucial to convert and meet the demand for customised and unitary manufacture. The solution is the disintermediation of the production process, so that companies can receive requests for a decentralised portal, not open to bribery and easy to use by all parties involved.

As soon as these data, put in safekeeping and transparent networks, is available, the technologies relate to the Data Science, such as Data Analytics, Machine Learning and Big Data accept the handling of data and pull out substantial info to complete precise-resourceful predictive analysis of demand, part prices and maintenance to warrant not only the correct operation of supply chains, but the production systems as well.

Conclusion: is the 4th Industrial Revolution a paradigm? No, if you translate it in an opportunity! This transformation put us on the course of a sustainable growth, and in the end, to get stronger industry ecosystem and greater customer satisfaction. Understanding that these technologies represent unlimited possibilities, you will reach your goals much faster.

Dave Food

Prophetic Technology

M?: +44 7775 861863