How should industrial metrology equipment evolve to adapt to Industry 4.0? How do you go about equipping yourself, and how much will you need to invest? These are questions that decision-makers in charge of transforming a proven production system into a "smart" factory, and who will have to invest to do so, need to answer.
Accretech, one of the world's leading designers and manufacturers of industrial metrology products, has released a new white paper entitled "Sensors: the gates to the smart factory". The result of several months' work by specialists, it provides a clear picture of the demands that Industry 4.0 now places on metrology, and what this means for production and test planning.
In less than fifteen pages, this work, presented as a guide, tackles essential questions. For example: "What are the decisive factors in ensuring the choice of the right measurement system?", "What are the developments towards Industry 4.0 that will have an impact on metrology?" or "What are the advantages and disadvantages of tactile and optical measurement methods?".
Decision-makers are guided by a list of questions to help them clearly consider the development of their production: what about the capability of measuring instruments? What about return on investment? Is it possible to operate, maintain and repair equipment remotely? What about cybersecurity?
The primary motivation for embarking on Industry 4.0 is the dream of optimal resource utilization in production. "A dream that's possible under certain conditions, as this white paper explains, for example, by minimizing set-up times for flexible, modular measurement systems, and largely automating quality control and maintenance through self-monitoring systems."
In the ideal smart factory, sensors must provide measurement data with the lowest possible uncertainty, in real time. But above all, this data must be supplied in a format that facilitates processing, communication and preparation of measurements throughout the process chain - from the sensor to its digital twin. And this new constraint, linked to digitization, impacts not only many processes, but also the working environment.
In the white paper "Sensors - the gateway to the intelligent factory", it is stated that "maintenance, energy requirements, and of course the costs associated with sensor technology, must be kept to a minimum; considerable electrical stability and resistance to external factors (EMC, climate, shock and vibration, even explosion protection) are also required. Because in the smart factory, measurements are not taken at the end of the process or in a dedicated metrology room, but more often than not on-line, during the manufacturing process, whenever possible. For quality assurance purposes, we are also seeing a trend away from random measurements towards 100 % measurements."
Visit the site:
www.accretech.eu/fr/white-paper-industrie-4-0/