by Daniel Chaplin, General Manager, EPCM Engineering
Traducción al español a continuación.
When I was invited to speak about “Industry 4.0” at the ACA CoatingsTech Conference on June 29, 2021, it got me thinking about what the term fundamentally means.
It refers to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and it is well underway.
“Industry 4.0” refers to combining the automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices with the power of leading-edge communications technology, the Internet, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
For the team here at EPCM, Industry 4.0 is much more than a buzzword; it denotes real, positive change for companies and their employees.
Many in the 4.0 marketplace believe that the more data, the better. But here at EPCM, we know that sheer volume of data is meaningless unless it is accompanied by the know-how to use it to make something better.
EPCM sees Industry 4.0 as the opportunity to understand and use data in ways that meaningfully help companies achieve their goals. We do not provide data for data’s sake; we use data to make real, relevant improvements to safety and efficiency.
I’m fortunate to have a front-row seat to the evolution of Industry 4.0 since EPCM’s work helps companies around the world adapt to, and thrive in, this new revolution.
One of the world’s largest copper mines came to EPCM with a problem requiring an Industry 4.0 solution: the operation of classifying their product was being performed by a large number of people at a high cost and in a hazardous environment. EPCM designed, manufactured, installed, commissioned, and now operates a process that incorporates the latest vision-capture technology with robotics to increase the throughput of the operation, improve the safety of handling and reduce human interaction with the process by 80%.
At a manganese mine in South Africa, EPCM was presented with a different challenge. Much up-close work of monitoring the processes was still being done by technicians, which put them in harm’s way of dangerous chemicals, fumes, and electrical currents. Our team at EPCM devised a solution that empowers the operators to monitor all crucial aspects of the processes remotely, safely out of harm’s way, working with precise data to complement their years of expertise.
A large paint manufacturer came to EPCM in 2020 seeking Industry 4.0 solutions to improve the throughput, speed, and capacity of its batch manufacturing process. In addition, it was looking to determine how to reduce manual operator interaction with the process systems and potential exposure to chemicals while dosing raw materials. The EPCM team completely reimagined the typical approach to the process, developing an efficient, data-centric solution that gives the client crucial information and actions to reduce the batch production time, improve control at each stage of manufacturing and achieve a 20% to 30% increase in throughput.
In my recent presentation at the ACA CoatingsTech Conference, I hope I conveyed how the high-tech innovations of Industry 4.0 are ultimately in service of keeping companies successful by keeping their processes efficient and their employees safe.
Learn more about how we are using Industry 4.0 to increase throughput through integrated technology.
