Page 56 - Retail World March 2021

INDUSTRY 4.0 Are you on the Successfully deployed in thousands of businesses across Australia, the industrial internet of things (IIoT) is no longer the next level of industrial automation. It’s today’s level. By Peter Howard. Having successfully come of age, IIoT is firmly established and a proven success. However, despite business after business reporting previously unimaginable gains using IIoT initiatives, there are those content to watch, wait and wonder while their businesses battle the very same issues IIoT businesses have solved. In the first of three Industry 4.0 features for 2021, Retail World explores the exciting and rapidly evolving world of IIoT through the lenses of three different companies. Each is involved in a different aspect of IIoT and all are working to simplify the IIoT journeys of Australian businesses. Sensor and digital automation specialist Balluff has a presence in 68 countries and is seen by many as an important partner in IIoT projects. Retail World asked Australia National Sales Manager Jim Wallace for his thoughts on the right time for manufacturers to consider IIoT solutions. “If you’re a manufacturer, and your goals include things like reducing your manufacturing costs, higher machine availability, less downtime, improved asset utilisation or reducing scrap rates, then you should probably be looking at an IIoT solution,” he said. “If we can measure something, we can improve it, so it amazes me how many manufacturers continue to operate without having any of the real-time data visibility offered by IIoT.” The new normal Siemens Digital Industries Head of Digital Enterprise Leonie Wong says the pandemic has resulted in increased curiosity around IIoT, but at the same time, resistance around adoption has also increased. “Looking at the long term, it’s well known that for the Australian food and beverage manufacturing sector to remain competitive, there needs to be change,” she said. “We know this because, not just Australian \[but global\] food and beverage manufacturers are facing pretty much the same pressures. “They’re facing the constant pressures around making sure quality is top notch, they’re facing pressure around the increasing costs of utilities and the increasing costs of labour. They’ve also got seasonal variation, increases in demand from their R&D teams to release new products, meaning smaller batch sizes need to be manufactured. In addition, there’s the need to branch into new markets through exporting, because in Australia there’s really high demand to export our products into other regions, due to the quality of what we make. “In the past, we’ve been able to deal with all these pressures using existing infrastructure. I’m not sure how well we’ve been dealing with them, but I like to think we’ve been coping.” However well we coped in the past, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the rules. With many manufacturers facing rising demand and higher production targets, the complexities of social distancing, a reduced labour force and different split-shift patterns added pressures of a new kind. “If anything, the pandemic has prompted businesses to ask questions 54 RETAIL WORLD MAR, 2021