(If you aren’t sure what Industry 4.0 or IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) are, take a look at these previous blog entries.)
I’m amazed at all the research published each week presenting the value Industry 4.0 and IIoT are bringing to manufacturing. And the articles about Industry 4.0 and IIoT are not just in industry rags, there are mainstream publications like Fortune & Forbes who are aware of and presenting the power of Industry 4.0 to the masses.
But why should anyone even care?
Looking backwards a decade, no one should be surprised that an explosion of data has occurred. In 2013 the IMS found the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of Ethernet-based automation components was 16.4 percent in 2012. It was outpacing fieldbus growth dramatically in every category and predicted strong CAGR through 2016. And taking a look forward provides just as exciting an outlook in the global industrial Ethernet market as Technavio is expecting growth at a CAGR of more than 15% for 2016 through 2020!
So as I look at the economic effects of IIoT, Morgan Stanley sees: investments in the automation industry are expected to grow at a faster pace than the GDP, capital budgets for IIoT type investments will grow 18% and greater than 70% of respondents believe IIoT is an important strategy for their company. And with 73% of companies investing more than 20% of their technology budget on Big Data analytics and growing, this trend toward Industry 4.0 does not seem to be letting up.
But why are manufacturer’s making these investments?
This infographic really summarizes well how I feel our situation in the US today is laid out.
We need upgrades and investment in US manufacturing infrastructure. And to remain successful we need to improve production efficiency and evolve towards flexible manufacturing processes. In a recent survey from SCM World the benefits of Smart Manfucaturing and can provide a 48% reduction in unplanned downtime from IIoT solutions. WOW! Can you imagine the kinds of investments we could make if we weren’t throwing our money into the downtime fire? In this same survey close to two thirds of respondents said they are ready now or will be in 5 years for implementation of IIoT solutions.
The kind of focus and growth I’m reading about every week is driving investments and benefits for all stakeholders in manufacturing and it would be smart to take a look at where your company stacks up.
If you are interested in seeing how Balluff enables & scales Industry 4.0 and IIoT, visit our website at www.balluff.us.
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