Page 60 - Packaging News magazine Jul-Aug 2021

60
SMART FACTORY | www.packagingnews.com.au | July-August 2021
Keeping finger on the ‘IIoT pulse’
SMC Corporation says it is keeping its finger on the ‘IIoT pulse’ and taking a holistic approach to product upgrades as part of its commitment to Industry 4.0.
“Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always about large investments or new technology – smarts can be imple- mented right down to sensor level.
“A lot of the resistance in the past was due to a lack of understanding around the outcomes and benefits of such technologies. However, today the returns and benefits are much more transparent.”
Ceh also says that enquiries for such technologies has seen a dra- matic shift, with questions moving away from enquiring about a task being fulfilled to enquiring about further functionalities.
“Upgrades to machines enable flexibility and higher functional- ities, such as finer controls over speed, cycle times, position, recon- figuration, quick changes, and data processing,” adds Ceh.
“OEMs are redesigning control systems to accommodate multiple machines, which is of great benefit to the end user and requires only software changes, rather than dis- ruptive hardware changes.”
Speaking to one of the biggest drivers of IIoT technologies, Ceh says that it is all about the cycle time, as improving outputs and reducing errors is the key to growing a business and competing in chal- lenging times.
“Customers are increasingly turn- ing to suppliers for an improvement in their manufacturing cycle times, and engineers are constantly
ACCORDING to Jozef Ceh, global account and digital transforma- tion manager at SMC, the com- pany is continuing on its jour- ney towards incorporating more smarts across its broader compo- nent range.
“More and more products are being developed and upgraded in-line with smart requirements,” explains Ceh.
“SMC’s primary mandate is to deliver mechanical and electrical products that already are Industry 4.0 enabled, as well as energy and CO2 efficient.”
“SMC’s strategy is two-fold: we support customers who are upgrad- ing existing systems and are in search of more functionality, and we support customers in non-tradi- tional, developing markets where there is great potential for Industry 4.0 collaboration.”
INDUSTRY UPTAKE AND
SHIFT IN DEMANDS
Speaking to the accelerated uptake of IIoT technologies in-line with the Covid-19 lockdown, Ceh believes that education, first and foremost, has resulted in an influx of compa- nies openly demonstrating Industry 4.0 implementation.
With price on everyone’s
minds, Jozef adds that companies adopting
IIoT technologies are
becoming more cost competitive.
“There is a better understanding of the technology and its potential ROI, and com- panies adopting IIoT technologies are becom- ing more cost competi- tive,” says Ceh.
BELOW:
Jozef Ceh,
global account and digital transformation manager at SMC.