Smart Sensors: Support for the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in Production Processes

Introduction

We are witnessing a steady increase in global demand in the world, which puts constant pressure on the global production industry to improve productivity, product quality, avoid downtime, and improve supply and delivery. In order to survive in the global market and meet the above-mentioned requirements most companies in the world are beginning to use new technologies that monitor production data, monitor production processes, change and adjust the parameters of optimal production, thus creating new business values. By implementing the new technologies that are the foundations of the Industry 4.0 (we can call them smart technologies) in the production processes, companies obtain real-time control and information available on the platforms and devices that monitor the company's production process. Industry 4.0 helps to increase productivity and improve the overall business performance of the company. To ensure this, it is necessary to have a secure connection between the various production systems and processes throughout the company. A new way of managing production processes is to improve the performance, and better use of existing data, while using a combination of tools that can be used to improve the system or production process. Every company implementing new technologies of Industry 4.0 will remain in the lead and be competitive as technology continues to drive innovation.If the company conducts wide digitalization and integration of processes, serials, drives, and shift into one connected infrastructure, the company can increase efficiency and productivity in all segments. This way, we have access to production data in the production process at any time in real time, which allows us to monitor and improve the performance of the production process itself, or to have insights into energy consumption so that we can make the decision to supply energy at optimal prices, or manage peak energy consumption. By implementing the fundamental Industry 4.0 technologies in production processes, including smart sensors, the company can improve the following: productivity gains with continuous improvement, as well as the performance of the production system, improve business adaptability by quickly responding to market changes, improve product development time through efficient system design and the integration of the production process itself, extend the product life cycle, secure environment and reduce energy consumption, mitigate security risk to assist with important tools such as people, equipment and information, etc. The implementation of new Industry 4.0 technologies that address a unique set of customers can be a complex task, and in order to simplify it, the company needs to focus on three key ingredients: process, technology and people (Randy, 2013;Clarence, 2017;Sihn, Jager, Humme, &Ranz, 2016;Bunse, Kagermann, & Wahlster, 2017;Sulavik, Portnoy, & Waller, 2014; Student, 2006;Akmal, & Koenig, 2011;Doleček, & Karabegović, 2008; Rockwel Aotomation, 2016;Rockwel Aotomation, 2017;Karabegović, Karabegović, Mahmić, & Husak, 2015;Jeremy, 2015;Chand, 2015). The companies need to meet end users and go through the process of implementing Industry 4.0 to identify their needs. They need to incorporate the right technologies and capabilities into their production processes. It is necessary to build a set of skills, both internally and externally. An illustration of how to get into smart production by implementation of Industry 4.0 in the company is shown in Figure 1.