To gain an insight into what 2021 may deliver, Digital Journal spoke with Keith Higgins, VP of Digital Transformation for Rockwell Automation (a company dedicated to industrial automation).
Higgins looks around the changing digital transformation landscape, the expanding augmented reality trained workforce and the need for increased IT/OT integration to make critical data-driven decisions.
IT/OT Integration is critical for answering the $77 billion need for IIoT
With the Industrial Internet of Things market expected to grow from $77.3 billion in 2020 to $110.6 billion by 2025. In addition, 73 percent of manufacturers report they plan to increase their investment in smart factory technology in 2021.
The advantages are that by automatically capturing high-speed data from industrial controllers in real-time, organizations can generate predictive insights and business excellence across the firm. By
Edge is the new cloud
Many enterprises are scaling smart factory initiatives during 2021. Here, edge computing will complement cloud infrastructure by permitting real-time data processing at the site of main activities. This is a sign that many industries will shift towards decentralized computer environments.
Researchers predict that by 2022, 99 percent of industrial enterprises will being using edge computing to gain such advanatges.
Digital twins save $1 trillion in manufacturing costs
In 2021, through interconnecting business systems, firms will be able to virtually commission new production lines. Via digital twins, companies will operate machines virtually ahead of parts being ordered. In addition, they will discover different control issues ahead of support staff coming into work and predict future performance issues.
Gartner assesses that businesses will save up to US$1 trillion per year in areas like asset maintenance by using the Internet of Things based on data gathered via digital twins.
Pandemic promotes AR training as the new standard for a distributed workforce
About 70 percent of manufacturers indicated that the most significant impactsof robotics on the workforce between now and 2025 will be attempting to operate a far more automated, flexible production environment. This will lead to new jobs working with robotics. This will be aided by augmented reality and 3D technology. New skills will be needed for this new wave of manufacturing workers.
Automation accelerates employee advancement through human-machine interface
Automation offers the ability to reduce the normally crowded factory floor and with replacing repetitive tasks. More human-machine collaboration will help machines to reach their full potential.
