INDUSTRIE 4.0 - SMART MANUFACTURING FOR THE FUTURE WWW.GTAI.COM
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WHAT DOES INDUSTRIE 4.0 MEAN FOR
THE SOFTWARE SECTOR – ERP OR MES?
INDUSTRIE 4.0 has sparked a debate within the Ger-
man software industry as to whether enterprise
resource planning (ERP) or manufacturing execu-
tion systems (MES) will establish themselves as
the dominant software system force in production
environments. Some industry voices believe that
ERP software will be directly linked to process con-
trol systems (PCS) at the production level, thereby
eliminating the need for ERP software. Conversely,
a significant contingent considers MES software to
be excellently situated for the implementation of IN-
DUSTRIE 4.0.
In reality, the answer is not as clear cut, as INDUS-
TRIE 4.0 will also cause significant transformation
in the field of production management software.
However, because both traditional ERP and MES
functionalities remain indispensable to production
management, it remains unlikely that one software
system will replace the other.
A more likely scenario is the increasing convergence
of the two systems, with the line dividing corporate
IT and production IT becoming blurred. This scenario
matches the essence of interdisciplinary integration
and the different stages of the product cycle foreseen
in INDUSTRIE 4.0 (e.g., idea, development, produc-
tion, service, and phasing out). Software systems
utilized in INDUSTRIE 4.0 will also have to address
new challenges including, for example, data correla-
tions, as a result of ever more semantic networks and
learning applications and the need to manage ever
larger and more complex amounts of data.
1.4 CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
Cy
ber-physical systems (CPS) are enabling technolo-
gies which bring the virtual and physical worlds to-
gether to create a truly networked world in which in-
telligent objects communicate and interact with each
other. Cyber-physical systems represent the next evo-
lutionary step from existing embedded systems. To-
gether with the internet and the data and services
available online, embedded systems join to form cy-
ber-physical systems.
Cyber-physical systems provide the basis for the cre-
ation of an Internet of Things, which combines with the
Internet of Services to make INDUSTRIE 4.0 possible.
They are “enabling technologies” which make multiple
innovative applications and processes a reality as the
boundaries between the real and virtual worlds disap-
pear. As such, they promise to revolutionize our inter-
actions with the physical world in much the same way
that the internet has transformed personal communi-
cation and interaction.
The interplay between high performance software-
based embedded systems and dedicated user interfac-
es which are integrated into digital networks creates a
completely new world of system functionality. Modern
mobile telephones are perhaps the most obvious ex-
ample of this, offering as they do a complete bundle of
applications and services which completely outstrip
the device’s original telephony function. Cyber-physi-
cal systems also represent a paradigm break from ex-
isting business and market models, as revolutionary
new applications, service providers and value chains
become possible.
Industry sectors including the automotive industry,
the energy economy and, not least, production tech-
nology (“INDUSTRIE 4.0”) for example, will in turn be
transformed by these new value chain models. Global
megatrends of globalization, urbanization, demographic
change and energy transformation are the transfor-
mative forces driving the technological impulse to
identify solutions for a world in flux. In the future,
cyber-physical systems will make contributions to hu-
man security, efficiency, comfort and health in ways
not previously imaginable. In doing so, they will play a
central part in addressing the fundamental challeng-
es posed by demographic change, scarcity of natural
resources, sustainable mobility, and energy change.
1.5 CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND THE
INTERNET OF THINGS, DATA AND SERVICES
The “The Evolution of Embedded Systems into the In-
ternet of Things, Data and Services” illustration de-
picts the vision of a global “Internet of Things, Data
and Services” through the evolutionary development
of embedded system as a result of their being net-
worked over the internet. Closed embedded systems
(e.g. airbags) represent the starting point. Recom-
mendations for the next step to locally networked em-
bedded systems were already made in the National
Roadmap Embedded Systems 2009. acatech’s “Agenda
CPS” study extended the spectrum to global network-
ing (one example being the intelligent networked road
junction that makes use of traffic jam information).
Cyber-physical systems represent the next stage on
the road to the creation of smart cities through the
creation of an Internet of Things, Data and Services.
Vision: Internet of Things, Data and Services
e.g. Smart City
Cyber-Physical Systems
e.g. intelligent networked road junction
THE EVOLUTION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS INTO
THE INTERNET OF THINGS, DATA AND SERVICES
Networked Embedded Systems
e.g. autonomous aviation
Embedded Systems
e.g. airbag
Health
CPS Smart
Health Scenario
Mobility
CPS Smart
Mobility
Scenario
Energy
CPS Smart
Grid Scenario
...
CPS ...
Scenario...
THE INTERNET OF SERVICES
Cross-sectional themes applicable to all application scenarios:
Semantic technologies, Cloud computing, Operator platforms for services
Source: Germany Trade & Invest 2013 (based on “IKT als Innovationsmotor für alle Bedarfsfelder – die Relevanz des »Internets der Zukunft« in „BERICHT DER PROMOTOREN-
GRUPPE KOMMUNIKATION – IM FOKUS: DAS ZUKUNFTSPROJEKT INDUSTRIE 4.0 HANDLUNGSEMPFEHLUNGEN ZUR UMSETZUNG”, Forschungsunion 2012)
ICT AS INNOVATION MOTOR FOR ALL FIELDS OF DEMAND -
RELEVANCE OF THE INTERNET OF THE FUTURE
THE INTERNET OF THINGS
CPS cross-sectional themes applicable to all application scenarios:
Security, long-term operations, engineering, training and advanced training,
standards and norms, reference architecture
Source: Acatech 2011
Industry
CPS Smart
Factory
Scenario