FEBRUARY 2018
Need High Quantities of Prototypes Fast? www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz
5
BUSINESS NEWS What’s all the blockchain fuss about?
14 DEVELOPMENTS Analytics leaders wrestle with AI challenges for 2018.
direct3dprinting.com.au
16 DEVELOPMENTS Engineering firm takes mentoring to another level.
Is there a standard for smart manufacturing? Waiting for smart manufacturing standards to develop before implementing the Industrial Internet of Things into your operations may not be the most productive choice. By Dave Vasko, director of Advanced Technology, Rockwell Automation Smart manufacturing is called different things in different countries: Manufacturing USA (United States), Industrie 4.0 (Germany), China 2025 (China) or Industrie du Futur (France). The U.K., Sweden, Japan, Korea and India all have country-specific efforts as well. What do these initiatives have in common? They are all: • Creating a vision for smart manufacturing. • Using the power of digitalization to help manufacturers reduce capital expenditures, improve time to market, reduce inventory and improve productivity. • Extending existing standards to realize the vision. The last point is an important distinction: These initiatives are not creating new standards — they are classifying how best to use existing standards. That means the groundwork for smart manufacturing, Industrie 4.0 and other initiatives is being done in standard developing organizations such as the IEC, ISO, ISA, IEEE and the OPC Foundation. These organizations are where the influence starts and leadership takes hold. This is particularly important as thought leaders prepare for the G20 Digital Economy (or Group of Twenty) in August. This international forum for governments from 20 major economies is host to high-level discussions of
policy issues pertaining to, among other things, global economic growth. On the agenda is digital technology. Countries and companies around the world are eager to adopt digitalization strategies because it levels the playing field for smaller companies, allowing them to reap the same benefits as larger firms, and remain globally competitive and relevant.
Industry is slow to adapt to new technologies, mostly because replacing existing assets with new, smart manufacturing versions can be complex and take time. The transition should take place in phases.
This means if you look only at one country’s initiative, you’ll have a limited view of the global movement. You must look at global standards to understand global impact. So rather than the name of the initiative that differentiates the work, it’s the standards behind that initiative that make the difference.
The Time to Start Is Now For organizations hesitant to start their journeys
continued on Page 22