How to prepare for Industry 4.0 with insufficient data

As part of the “We the Digital Ones” project organised by the Katowice Special Economic Zone and the Silesia Automotive & Advanced Manufacturing Cluster, on 15 September 2021 representatives of eq system participated in a meeting about the use of data and algorithms in efficient company management. The meeting was a workshop combining the presentation of case studies and solutions implemented with the discussion and exchange of observations among the participants.

One of the recurring themes was the degree of preparation of Polish industrial sector companies for the Industry 4.0 concept which significantly redefines the approach to business, including ensuring of the proper flow of information between different business areas of a company. The participants had no doubts about one thing: the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, is a concept that is happening here and now.

During his speech, Artur Głodek, Business Analysis Department Expert at eq system, put forward a thesis that although there is a lot of talk about Industry 4.0 nowadays, the basic problem companies have is still lack of access to basic data on which they can base their digitisation processes. He presented the case of one of his clients, where the lack of this basic data could prove to be a barrier to using advanced tools to plan production processes. However, the use of an advanced MES collecting data from individual production processes and the use of benchmark technologies enabled the smooth implementation of the MES into the Asprova APS production planning system and quick economic effects by automating and streamlining production logistics. The implementation example discussed by Artur during the workshop proves that by combining the right approach and the partner’s experience, we can achieve the results, as expected, even with a relatively low effort.