Industry 4.0: Creating a Standard

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Matties: Now what you guys are describing is tier-one level. What about the smaller guys that have one facility? Do your solutions fit for them as well?

Hoz: It’s the same, but scaled. These types of factories are characterized with, in most cases, low volume and high mix because the mass production is done, in most cases, in cheaper places. These shops are expertizing in different types of manufacturing. They do lots of prototypes in very high mix but the volume is low. How do you change the programs like that? How do you move from one prototype to another?

Matties: Quickly.

Hoz: Yes, exactly. We take the program into account, computerize it and generate one program that can run all the different work orders at the same time. The changeover time is quick and there’s also the material savings and production planning in that respect.

Matties: The small guys have to feel like there's a solution that's affordable and achievable because they don't always have the infrastructure and resource to implement such systems.

Hoz: These board shops also need to have some kind of competitive edge from others. Everything is automated, everything is computerized and there is no room for mistakes for them. They cannot just afford buying another machine. Everything has to be optimized and everything has to be manufactured right the first time.

The connection with the designers is extremely important with the checks that they have to run and the programs that they have to do for the machines. The documentation that they have to provide to the customers is also extremely important. If you look at our customer portfolio, you'll see tier ones, tier twos, but also many others. We have more than 1,000 customers worldwide; not all of them can be tier one, but this is their aspiration.

Matties: Gentlemen, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

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