MAY-JUNE 20228MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSBy Andy R. Wiseman, Senior Director of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, Valmont IndustriesINDUSTR Y 4.0 IN A LARGE INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURERIN MY OPINIONRecently, I read an article in the Stamping Journal by Bill Frahm of 4M Partners about the "Fourth Industrial Revolution"--otherwise known as Industry 4.0--that made use ofa helpful football analogy. He discussed how, on the gridiron, "successful plays depend on each player's ability to execute their assignments while responding to the situation on the field as it unfolds."This analogy begins to paint a picture of some of the complexities that exist within a metal fabricating business. There is an immense amount of coordination required to effectively and efficiently manufacture a product. There is a need to monitor and respond, in a real time manner, to constant changes on the shop floor. These data needs include mill test reports, inventory, visibility, flow within the shop, actionable real time insights, preventative maintenance, real time productivity, statistical process control, and real time customer delivery data. There is a plethora of data available today within our industry. But the data, being from many disparate systems with lots of noise, makes it very difficult to extract the critical information to make the right decisions at the right time.What does that really mean in a heavy industrial manufacturing environment that has been slow to adopt to Industry 4.0? Productivity is hampered by manual processes,
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