Waldkirch, Germany, January 22, 2019 – Industry 4.0: Just a model or real-world practice? At HANNOVER MESSE 2019 from April 1 through 5, 2019, [Hall 9 / Booth F18], SICK AG will demonstrate how sensor intelligence and data transparency is used to optimize the entire value creation chain. To fit the theme of “4.0 NOW”, visitors will get a look into smart production at the SICK location in Freiburg. How can goods and products be localized within and outside of organizations? How can data transparency be achieved through granular intelligence in factories? How is artificial intelligence already being used on the industrial landscape today? SICK shows you how.
Growing demand for dynamic production means an increasing shift between batch size 1 and mass production. End customers need fast, on-time and correct deliveries. These requirements are steadily driving the intelligent networking of individual production processes as well as the integration of goods movements. This means that generating data is not enough. Data must also be made usable for optimizing the value creation chain. Therein lies one of the key challenges of implementing Industry 4.0. As a manufacturer of sensors, SICK AG has been supplying the basics for data generation for decades through its innovative solutions and services based on sensor data. “We want to show our visitors at HANNOVER MESSE 2019 how production and logistics can be networked and how data transparency can boost value creation potential. And it all happens in real time,” says Bernhard Müller, Senior Vice President of Industry 4.0 at SICK AG.
Companies of any size can benefit tremendously from new technologies. This includes accelerating production, streamlining the material flow, optimizing capacity utilization, responding to customer priorities with flexibility and performing proactive device maintenance. “The future of industry is happening now. Intelligent data exchange means that it’s possible right now—on demand. Our slogan “4.0 NOW” highlights the solutions and technologies we use to push Industry 4.0 and the advantages it brings. This promotes new, flexible value creation in the here and now and encourages direct interaction with the technology,” Müller adds.
Live-streaming the smart factory
SICK is making this happen by opening the gates of its smart production location in Freiburg for the first time ever and bringing this production to the trade fair booth in Hanover. Highly efficient production is on display in the 4.0 NOW factory. The live stream lets visitors watch the automated guided carts (AGC) as they make their rounds to provide production robots with supplies and carry finished products away. Key figures from this location can be called up on a dashboard in Hanover—over 600 km away. “It looks so simple, but it’s the result of concentrated development and networking efforts. All of our vehicles, components and production cells are connected to each other and upload data to a cloud. Production can be scaled to match the order situation and requirements. Automated operations are carried out alongside manual work. The advantages of both methods are combined to make production efficient,” says Müller.
BOSCH Production Performance Management (PPM) in the 4.0 NOW factory offers exclusive insights into the world of analyzing production data for processes and sensors. On the one hand, it uses analyses to show where there is room for more process efficiency optimization. On the other hand, it reveals how machine failures can be prevented using predictive maintenance analyses and how service activities can be planned and implemented efficiently.
Localization
Localization technology is one of the key factors in achieving the type of networked production and logistics needed for Industry 4.0. It can be used to boost optimization potential in several areas by allowing for agile planning of production and logistics processes. Localization data results in a high level of transparency and understanding of all production-related assets, load carriers and loading equipment. The payoff: Travel paths can be optimized and adapted dynamically. Setup times can be prepared or rescheduled flexibly. The material flow can be planned and controlled based on consumption. All of this boosts delivery quality and on-time delivery. And all of this is fully automated. “By offering this solution, we’re doing more than just answering the question of how to make I4.0 a reality. We’re achieving high-efficiency logistics and production that live up to the standards of both the customers and the ever-changing market,” explains Müller.
Artificial intelligence in real-world applications
SICK is also bringing the future to the “here and now” through its exemplary use of AI. “We’ll show how we can start using AI right now to gain efficiency in industrial applications,” Müller says. “This new technology prepares us to face the challenges of our customers. We will present initial solutions from joint projects at Hannover Messe,” Müller continues. Booth visitors can see the application of AI for themselves. The fun application will allow them to experience AI live.
SICK is one of the world’s leading producers of sensors and sensor solutions for industrial applications. The company, which was founded in 1946 by Dr. Erwin Sick and has its headquarters in Waldkirch im Breisgau near Freiburg in Germany, is among the technology market leaders. With more than 50 subsidiaries and equity investments as well as many agencies, SICK has a agency all over the world. In the 2017 fiscal year, SICK had more than 8,809 employees worldwide and a group revenue of just under EUR 1.5 billion.