Industry 4.0 – Boon or Bane?

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Paolo Salvagno, Managing Director B&R Industrie-Automation AG

Everyone has been discussing the theme of Industry 4.0 for years. When is the breakthrough?

Paolo Salvagno: We are already in the middle of it and many of our customers are already at promising implementations. Or this, B&R has already been offering the necessary software tools. Everything that is summarized in the term Industry 4.0, we also experience that in our in-house production in our headquarters in Eggelsberg. Our Smart Factory has already been a reality since 2006 and is being continually expanded.

What are the new business models and potentials that can be expected from the 4th industrial revolution?

New business models like Cloud Computing, Fog Computing or even Data Analysis are just a few of those. Billions of machines and systems across the world will communicate with each other in the future – that is a huge market. In addition to the models mentioned, virtual software solutions are also becoming increasingly important. This way, possible discrepancies can be detected early on and one can save on costs.

When one speaks of Industry 4.0, the expression «Factory of the future» is employed very often. What is your vision of factory 4.0?

The factory of the future is highly automated, sustainable, efficient, resource-friendly as well as very flexible as regards the manufacturing process of products and can be controlled from anywhere. The batch size 1 will be a reality even in areas in which we cannot imagine it now. The factory of the future will order raw materials on its own and will organize itself. As software becomes more and more «teachable», the robots and machines in the factory of the future will also become increasingly intelligent.

While talking of «Factory of the future», an image of people-free workshops comes to the mind of many. Others rave about the advantages of digitisation for people and also that this will not cost any jobs. What are we supposed to believe?

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The factory of the future will definitely not be people-free. However, robots will simplify a few work steps for sure. This interaction of robots and people will gain a lot of importance in the future.

Can digitisation help in bringing production back to the Switzerland?

Here, one surely needs to differentiate, of which production one is speaking of. I rather think not mass production. But I see a lot of potential in the High-tech sector, where a few manual work steps are necessary.

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