The Industry 4.0 concept goes beyond connecting sensors or digitizing manufacturing processes: its ultimate goal is to optimize costs and productivity to generate customized products and meet customer needs. It is an ambitious initiative that is based on a fundamental pillar: data.

The enormous volume of data is already generated: industrial processes, transactional systems and the growing number of sensors, produce information on raw materials, production planning, the operation of the assets of the manufacturing lines, the estimation of demand, logistics and distribution, transportation and warehousing. The great challenge is to structure them, store them to make them always accessible, manage them and obtain knowledge in order to combine them with other technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things or analytical tools. As a result, we obtain the necessary power to compete and win in this new scenario.

Optimal planning

Big data applications that benefit manufacturing companies are numerous. Among the most common, production planning stands out. For a company, today it is possible to complete its manufacturing processes with the minimum levels of waste of raw material and optimize every detail, improving quality controls, minimizing human errors and designing optimal circuits from the entry of the raw material to the exit of the finished product. Any variables with the potential to affect performance will be detected and addressed in time. In an escalated vision, big data is the key to interconnect production systems and obtain end-to-end visualization, with the consequent objective of optimizing time and resources.

Sensors connected with IoT also gain a leading role when combined with big data tools: they can detect anomalies in the operation of machinery to enable preventive maintenance actions, or they can identify how much space is being used in storage centers to establish points of optimization.

In time and form

In the area of logistics and transport, big data not only collaborates with the design of optimal routes, which reduces costs thanks to lower fuel consumption and better use of available vehicles, but also reduces the footprint of carbon and contributes positively to the environment.

Solutions such as Nubiral’s Intelligent Forecasting, which works with big data, allows the prediction of demands with high levels of precision. This ensures the availability of the product for the customer, at the same time, optimizes inventories, since it reduces both the risks of shortages and the high costs of keeping leftover items.

A true value chain

Even big data applied to manufacturing companies makes it possible to obtain benefits outside the “walls” of the factory: one of the pillars of the Industry 4.0 concept is collaboration. This means that an organization can be perfectly connected with its suppliers and with its logistics operators so that, if a specific raw material is needed, the systems themselves take care of ordering and guarantee that replenishments always arrive on time.

The manufacturing industry is entering the future through the big door: data is making it more efficient, more profitable and, fundamentally, more responsible to the planet.