THE ROAD TO
INDUSTRY 4.0 MATURITY
The dream of a ‘smart’ factory will remain just that until companies
have a way of tracking their progress on the Industry 4.0 journey
Industry 4.0 represents a major paradigm shift,
BY PAUL TAYLOR, HEAD OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS (UK) AT TÜV SÜD PRODUCT SERVICE
with the convergence of enterprise IT and
operational technology (OT) seeing systems
and devices exchanging and interpreting shared
data. Advanced sensors are already fi nding
their way into modern manufacturing lines,
facilitating informed decision-making, but this is
just the beginning.
While Industry 4.0 is a growing reality, much
of it still remains a concept, as the shift to this
new method of working requires signifi cant
fi nancial investment in new plant, as well as the
assurance that the machinery safety issues have
been addressed.
As we progress towards Industry 4.0 methods,
industrial manufacturing will face massive
disruption as developments move towards fully
connected, self-organising, intelligent factories.
One of these disruptions is fi nding the answer
to a new machinery safety approach. Currently,
industrial automation is a consolidated reality,
with approximately 90% of machines in factories
being unconnected. These isolated systems
mean that machinery safety can be comfortably
assessed in a static environment, and current
regulations are set-up to address this type of
environment, where the variables can be easily
understood and control measures applied to
minimise the known hazards.
However, the smart factories
of tomorrow will be based on
modular architectures, with
standardised interfaces and
state-of-the-art information
technology that permit highly
fl exible, automated ‘plug and
produce’ manufacturing. While
this will make it possible to
manufacture small lot sizes costeffi
ciently, meeting an increasing
demand for customised
products, it also sees a shift
from static risk assessment to
one of dynamic risk.
As the current approach
relies on the original
confi guration to be risk
assessed, such instant updates
to machinery mean that
the traditional static risk
assessment approach will not
meet Industry 4.0 requirements.
It is therefore vital to consider
the shifting landscape of risk.
While a smart factory will see
reduced risk in several areas,
the range and fl exibility of
connected interfaces introduces
a new set of risk issues.
While directives have not
yet addressed the needs of an
Industry 4.0 environment, we
will see a move from a humanled
static risk assessment
approach to a machine-led
dynamic risk assessment
approach, with an ever
increasing reliance on multiple
layers of functional safety.
As Industry 4.0 becomes
ever more agile and automated,
so the approach to machinery
safety must refl ect and support
that. For many, Industry 4.0
therefore raises more questions
about machinery safety than can
currently be answered.
Step-by-step
While ongoing digital
transformation will drive
innovation across a wide range
of industries, machinery safety
experts will face signifi cant
Around 90%
of all factory
machinery
is currently
unconnected to
any network
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