Top technological trends
Top technological trends in NEWS AND MARKETS Rapid advances in industrialization and digitalization methods have spurred tremendous progress in developing the next generation of manufacturing technology. In 2017, Industry 4.0 has started to mature and developments in this field have been practical and constructive. There are some clear trends in the technologies, all of which merge software with hardware in companies that used to be focused on manufacturing physical objects. In this article, we briefly take a look at the trends in important areas of industry 4.0. Author: Sushen Doshi, International Correspondent, World of Industries Predictive maintenance (PdM) clearly marks a turning point in the manufacturing oriented services sector. In the past, companies would plan and take action only when a problem or defect occurred or operational parameters got beyond limits, with predictive maintenance, they can now act on the basis of forecasted data and create proactive model of maintenance. Unlike previous approaches, such as reactive and preventive maintenance, and conditionbased maintenance, the predictive maintenance model provides an advantage with the use of sensors and gathering machine data. It applies algorithms to predict the best time for carrying out maintenance activity before the actual machine or component breakdown occurs. Rather than servicing plants and machinery at predefined time intervals, or assessing the health of a system on the basis of physical parameters like vibrations, temperature etc. and only taking action if the figures deviate from the pre-set range, PdM actually predicts future trends in the equipment’s operating parameters and thereby accurately determines its remaining operating life. This triggers a profound change in the maintenance strategy and service business model, for both individual products as well as networked 6 WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 8/2018
the Industry 4.0 production systems. Predictive maintenance model has already established itself in the European market. More than 75 % of industrial companies have began investing time and resources on this issue, and believe it will trigger a stronger growth of services in the future, replacing a significant amount of sales revenues that is currently derived from hardware products. The drivers for predictive maintenance are already well developed in the areas of sensor technology, data and signal processing, and condition monitoring and diagnosis. The real development has yet to take place in the areas of decision making and support. This is where companies need to take action now. Additive manufacturing and 3D printing 3-D printing has become an unstoppable force. Not too long ago, the printing speed and limited output of 3-D printers made them suitable only for rapid prototyping. But in the coming years, 3-D printers will play a crucial part in full-scale production in several industries like aerospace, automotive, health care and textile. This technology is set to change the face of manufacturing. The stage for this change wasn’t set overnight. Decades of innovation and recent advancements in speed, printing technology and material capabilities have now aligned, and together they are pushing the WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 8/2018 7 Turkish-Machinery.indd 1 23.10.2018 11:32:30
