One of the greatest distinctions between traditional manufacturing automation and Industry 4.0 is the immense rise in intelligent contact – between computer and workpiece, between person and computer, between software and machine – and, of course, between system and machine. The entire value-creation chain is incorporated into this dynamic data exchange in the field of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things – gradually even in the flat glass industry.
If cutting systems and buffers, processing centers, and modern production lines are linked across boards via software systems, sensors, actuators, and processors, this extends well beyond the keyword ‘automation.’
Different communication systems are growing rapidly and complementing each other. In this way, the purely barcode-based PDC (plant data collection), already standard in well-networked production environments in the flat glass industry, is enriched with machine data: electronic intelligence in tiny components connects the real world made of steel with the digital world. The share of data supplied by machines is increasingly rapid and will eventually complement manual systems. However, it is likely to replace them in the long run.
The smart industry requires unified data systems that integrate computer data with data from other sources to making it available, whether for collecting and analyzing information or for managing production management and maintenance cycles. Improving the provision of real-time information by the convergence of various systems produces highly complex distribution networks that are gradually coordinated. None of these innovations are very fresh in the process, however: Industry 4.0 is created by networking them through boards.
The Brief
Industry 4.0 is a step in the cyber world. The machinery turns into smart machines that control themselves, build networks, and communicate continuously, i.e. exchanges data. In this continuous exchange, machine systems can learn from and avoid mistakes in the future. During the actual process, production improves. A hundred percent value chain is optimized. The smart system can provide increased transparency and greater security in the creation of good quality products through the networking of data between the various production routines, whether it is a smart factory or smart glass.
The Doubts in Mind
The main reason for skepticism for glass automation is that while large dimensions and amounts of glass are produced, it does not necessarily constitute a mass product. Today, glass is also pretty smart because multifunctional glass can make light and shade distinctive, generate energy and control temperatures. Tempered glass for smartphones and touch-screens is more demanded than ever in communications and consumer electronics. For example, thermally pre-stressed and functional lenses require precise techniques, continuous quality controls, and robust reproductive processes.
Machine to Machine Talk
Companies may use and analyze the machine-to-machine talking system in development to capture, store, and collect data from various sensors, scanners, computers, and software systems in a specific storage container. For this function, the information is enriched with metadata and stored in the central data collection. The result is a comprehensive information system for logging and real-time use of all communications in the production chain with regard to order, batch, or individual lite.
Intelligent interfaces
In Industry 4.0 environments, the communication networks work with two-way interfaces that are created in cooperation with leading machine manufacturers by software providers. Information from the state-of-the-art glass processing equipment, equipped with electronic components, is read and continuously monitored through the use of smart software. An intelligent buffer at different points, an isolated glass line, and a complete plant node worth evaluation can be made with A+W systems, or orders can be sent either from the maker to the machine, or the control panels and analysis tools from the machine. This improves production efficiency and offers valuable information to be used by A+W IoT data platforms.
The Human Element in the Smart Factory
Self-learning cannot be compared to automatic, and talking rationalization would be wrong. We’ll see new job profiles emerge in the future — jobs that will play important roles and many still await creation. Professionals would be needed to be trained and supported in own countries. Mathematics, IT, science, and technology, in particular at school, need to be made more attractive and university admission criteria must be reduced.
Changes in vocational training can be achieved through work-oriented methods such as mobile e-learning (with PDAs and smartphones) or by means of a company wiki that can be collected, shared, and edited actively by all staff. On-the-job learning is understood as a continuing, important process.
The information exchange between workpiece, system technology, and optimization software is now very complex. The result of this is high productivity, material efficiency, and quality – an important service of float producers, which provide their customers with this information on the stock. The process described is more than just automation, as we know it: Glass Industry 4.0 is composed only of intelligent networking and communication of participating systems. Most glass companies have understood this and are investing in an intentional and careful way.
