Setting the stages for Industry 4.0

As we begin the 70th volume of Cutting Tool Engineering, the fundamental principles of cutting and grinding metal remain the same as when the magazine premiered with a different name to serve members of the Society of Carbide Engineers.

Over the years, cutting tools, grinding wheels and machinery have been introduced to significantly boost productivity that our earliest readers probably could have envisioned, because they were well-aware of previous bar-raising innovations. But one technological advancement they likely didn’t foresee is the unfolding gains enabled by the so-called industrial internet of things.

The IIoT, often called Industry 4.0, has been excessively hyped, but, based on some recent surveys, IIoT appears to have advanced beyond hype to large-scale application. One such survey is the Bsquare 2017 Annual IIoT Maturity Survey. Bellevue, Wash.-based Bsquare Corp. provides IIoT products and services. In summary, the survey of senior-level, IIoT decision-makers and influencers at manufacturing, transportation, and oil and gas companies found that 86 percent have adopted IIoT technology and 84 percent feel that their solutions are “very” or “extremely” effective.

Beyond the numbers, the five stages outlined by Bsquare that are commonly associated with IIoT technology adoption caught my attention. They progress from most used to least used. In the first stage, sensor data is transmitted and stored for analysis and action. In the second, dashboard and visualization tools are used to monitor real-time data. Stage three delivers insight, prediction and optimization via applied data analytics, such as machine learning. Stage four involves development and execution of logic rules that automate business activities and device configuration.

At stage five, “edge computing” occurs, where data is processed on, or very close to, the connected equipment, and functions are performed in the cloud. Only 7 percent of those surveyed reported being at stage five, and manufacturing and transportation participants were not surveyed about it, so many IIoT adopters have plenty of room to expand. Nonetheless, Bsquare reports that almost every respondent acknowledged that implementing IIoT is complex, and I imagine that complexity increases exponentially when advancing to a higher stage.

Seeing that Bsquare’s survey reached 310 respondents at companies with annual revenues of more than $250 million for transportation and manufacturing and in excess of $400 million for O&G, my initial thought was that IIoT adoption is only for very large organizations. The smaller ones, it would seem, don’t have the resources and may not even benefit from such connectivity. (The report can be downloaded at tinyurl.com/ydhv5o67.)

Then I read Senior Editor Mike Anderson’s article for this issue’s shop-floor connectivity focus (see page 64). Apparently, IIoT implementation isn’t only for the big dogs. For example, Tom Kelly, executive director and CEO of Automation Alley, said, “Even small job shops can get a lot of functionality out of very inexpensive sensors, which they can practically toss around the plant and onto machines to start collecting data.”