Page 31 - Food&Drink magazine July 2021

INDUSTRY 4.0
as cyber‐physical, will be equally significant in the new efficiencies it will offer to production systems.
INCREASING COMPETITION
With markets becoming more global, competition has become significantly tighter, placing still greater pressure on manufacturers to become more efficient. It is therefore vital that producers continually look for new ways to drive improvements or face the prospect of becoming uncompetitive.
IIoT, with its careful and comprehensive monitoring of an enterprise, can become part of the solution to remain competitive. Its all‐ encompassing nature means every aspect of a business can be analysed.
STAY TUNED
Open IIoT will be exhibiting at foodpro, now scheduled for 10‐13 October at the Sydney Showground. The group will be holding a panel discussion where it aims to answer everything you wanted to know about implementing Industry 4.0 in your operation. Check the revised schedule for
✷ THE OPEN IIOT GROUP
SIX VENDORS ADVANCING INDUSTRY 4.0
called “Industry 4.0”. This is yet another buzzword, but the four refers to the fourth major paradigm shift in manufacturing since the industrial revolution began. The first three were mechanisation in the 1800s, electrification in the 1920s and computerisation in the 1970s.
Each of these stages resulted in massive changes to the methods manufacturers employed, but also resulted in monumental increases in efficiency. This relatively new forth stage of digitisation and data technology, also known
exact details.
✷
Open IIoT is a group of six vendors with the ability to collectively supply the complete range of products for industrial automation. Each one of these companies is internationally recognised as a specialist in its respective field, having gained many years of industry experience.
Open IIoT is essentially a knowledge group that is advancing the uptake of Industry 4.0 in Australian manufacturing. The member companies are sensor and measurement specialists Balluff; Beckhoff, which produces automation controllers that link directly to the cloud; KUKA Robotic Automation which focuses on robotic solutions; leader in drive and geared motor technology NORD Drivesystems; SMC, specialising in advanced
pneumatic automation; and systems integrator with speciality experience in IIoT systems, ZI-Argus.
As a cohort, Open IIoT aims to assist industrial customers in getting started on their Industry 4.0 implementation and, more importantly, show them the commercial benefit that this implementation can deliver.
They can show how IIoT, being an open rather than propriety technology, can work in with existing systems that a site may already use. Open IIoT work hard to understand the customer’s needs and make a point of cutting through the jargon and helping them achieve their goals of enhancing their competitiveness.
ABOVE: Open IIoT works to advance the uptake of Industry 4.0.
✷ ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Harry Mulder is the principle automation engineer for Beckhoff Automation.
Energy Chains Cable Glands Flexible Conduits Sensors
Bearings Flexible Cables Connectors Gear Heads
LEADERS IN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION SUPPLY FOR THE FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
1300 65 75 64 info@treotham.com.au www.treotham.com.au Australian owned & managed
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | July 2021 | Food&Drink business | 31