Hyperconnectivity and remaining challenges for the factories of the future

Hyperconnectivity, high mobility, data and IOT. Concepts that define the factories or assets of the future. Perhaps already in the present.

When we talk about hyperconnectivity, we mean systems, equipment, products and people digitally linked by wired or wireless networks. No paper. Everything connected to everything. From the equipment that is manufactured to the cloud, where industrial control systems already have, or will have in the near future, their intelligence virtualised, containerised and cyber-secured.

High mobility, or in other words, factories in which the number of mobile, intelligent and autonomous objects is multiplied by a thousand. Autonomous vehicles that move objects, products or tools along the most optimal path. Collaborative robots used as tools that move easily from one process to another. Quadrupeds or robots with animal or human movement that perform palletising, depalletising, inspection or loading tasks safely and without limitations on rest times. Large, remote cranes with their own intelligence that safely optimise logistical tasks. Autonomous systems that automatically operate large mining areas capable of extracting and stacking large quantities of materials of different qualities or characteristics in an orderly manner. Drones that move around assets performing multiple inspection or maintenance tasks.

IOT and big data, summarising hundreds, thousands or millions of devices transmitting data in real time to systems that make use of artificial intelligence to optimise processes, improve the quality of the manufactured product or anticipate and resolve unproductive stoppages before the unexpected event occurs. Digital twins that anticipate and predict the operation of assets and assist in decision making, process optimisation, operator training or system commissioning. Analytical models that are properly trained to improve the overall operation of the plant in an automated way. Plants that do not need humans in precarious, dangerous or repetitive jobs and that respond in natural language to operational and management tasks… Tell me what is the OEE of line 1, how much has been produced today in our plant in China, divert 20% of the production to line 4, activate a new order to the sugar supplier… Or further, anticipate the price of our product in the global market and adjust the production to the demand, make it at the highest price, adjust the production to cover the expected quantities…