DC´s 2017 Trend #2 Industry 4.0 "smart factories"

 In DCs industry we have took seriously autonomous cars, traffic signage,smart homes & buildings,...and its relationship with mission critical facilities,  but what about factories?

The Industry 4.0 offers what is known as a smart factory. These smart factories provide for systems that can monitor the physical processes, make copies of the physical world and make their own decisions.

Using IoT, the cyber physical systems can cooperate and communicate and facilitate decision making in real-time so that humans and machines can interact with each other and create added value in the industrial process. 

note: The term Industry 4.0 comes from a project undertaken by the German government that promoted manufacturing and computerization in one.

So when loss of employment are a political flag in several countries -not only USA-, when we try to optimize energy efficiency, and made more sustainable the world, the "INDUSTRY 4.0" is a trend that it is unstoppable in years to come. Industry 4.0 includes at least :

• Internet of Things
• Cloud Computing
• Cyber/Physical Systems.
• Less personnel but more skilled
• Huge capital investment but less maintenance (except software patches)

In every factory exist or will exist a DC, our industry is immerse of this wave no doubt.

Or what do you think?

roberto sanchez, PE, RCDD, CxA

MEXICO