According to the Italian manufacturer OMET, ‘Transparent Factory’ is the real key to ‘Industry 4.0.’ With more and more devices coming in for machine connectivity and the evolution towards the Internet of Things and Big Data, OMET printing and converting lines is providing its customers the opportunity to boost their competitive advantage through higher operative efficiency and consequent business growth.
Gianni Gerosa, electronic research and development manager, explains, “OMET is among the pioneers of the Industry 4.0. Taking inspiration from the concept of smart factory even before it became the pillar of the fourth industrial revolution, OMET research and development have been always committed to design and produce interconnected machines, thanks to software able to display and control all production data and working conditions. Providing our customers with this valuable opportunity has been for years a priority for our company as well as the main purpose of several innovations, which led us into the era of industrial automation.
More and more operations are now easily managed by remote control, the diagnostic is even more precise and allows quick and focused assistance, production data are always traceable and available and the supply chain is oriented towards the complete digitalization. The use of RFID devices applied to the printing sleeves helps optimization of the whole process through a chance to memorize the parameters of every job and recall them any time.
This technology is essential to take the leap into Industry 4.0, which has become the objective of the global economic and industrial scenario: this huge change is based on connectivity, automation, and the integration between human labor and ‘intelligent’ machines.
Explaining the technology evolution, Gerosa says, “The pursuit of excellence depends more and more on quality and timing of information. OMET R&D has been developing sophisticated systems to integrate into our lines, conscious that our customers need immediate and intuitive information to improve their production, because innovation is the only possible strategy to a constant growth. Moreover, the investment on ‘machines 4.0’ is now supported by consistent tax breaks in many countries. This is a critical challenge for everyone. So companies should take this opportunity as a way to strengthen their business and increase their market share.”
Being part of the Industry 4.0 can bring huge advantages in terms of production maximization and sales improvement, reduction of time to market, maintenance costs and production down-times.
