Production 4.0 - what does this look like to you today and how far has the manufacturing industry reached this level?

4.0 is alive and well. When the term was first introduced at Hannover Messe 2011, it was intended to herald the fourth industrial revolution. Experts disagree as to whether it is actually a revolution or rather a further development of IT and software solutions. Be that as it may, the term 4.0 today stands for the digital transformation of industrial production. And as with other far-reaching developments in industry, such as the introduction of Ethernet technology, we are seeing a similar progression. A few years of discussion, a few years of weighing up the benefits and, for some years now, implementation in specific projects. Today, the added value of the approach, which we refer to somewhat more generously as the Industrial Internet of Things IIoT, has been implemented in countless applications.

What is Turck's focus in terms of modern production?

Turck supported the IIoT approach early on with its range of products and positioned itself as a pioneer of Industry 4.0, so to speak. With smart sensors, intelligent pre-processing in the field and data transmission to the cloud and back again, we generate the lifeblood of the IIoT: smart data. And through our subsidiary Turck Vilant Systems, we offer complete turnkey RFID solutions for production and logistics, including data connection to customer systems. As an IP67 specialist, we also support the trend towards modular machine and plant construction, as we bring intelligence into the field and directly to the machine with our robust I/O and control solutions in the high protection class. This makes inflexible and complex control cabinets increasingly superfluous. Together with our customers, we have already implemented numerous 4.0 projects, particularly in the areas of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Where will the development go, i.e. what will industrial production look like in the future?

In the coming years, we will see the further implementation of IIoT applications in production and logistics. What is still considered particularly innovative today will soon become the new standard. The more data is collected and transferred, the more important solutions are that turn local big data into smart data. This makes it possible to transmit only the relevant user data in order to reduce the load on higher-level networks and control systems. Smart networking solutions are also becoming increasingly important for efficient data transmission, including between machines and mobile units. This means that wireless transmission solutions are likely to play a growing role in the future, from proprietary wireless networks to WLAN and 5G mobile radio solutions. The more efficient IIoT solutions become, the more deeply IT and OT must be interlinked. For this reason, IT security will also become increasingly important in industry as communication options increase.