Industry 4.0 Here and Now - Design Engineering

The concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has been around for a few years now, but it's only been in the last 18 months where there has been a significant acceleration in communications, whitepapers, products and articles. There seems to be a disconnect, however, between that hype and real-world manufacturing operations. The perception is that Industry 4.0 is just something for the future. The reality is that it can provide OEMs with competitive advantage, and help manufacturers respond to demand and decrease costs today. Industry 4.0 encompasses a lot of different technologies, but let's focus on four areas that can be used right now to move a company's automation engagement towards that futuristic Smart Factory concept, while benefitting in the meantime.