The two pillars of Industry 4.0 remain security and efficiency, and they're two well-respected ideas when we look at this year's agenda for the upcoming Industrial IoT Conference, taking place from February 11-13, 2025, at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
I tend to relate two philosophies to Industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT, at large: From Japanese, we borrow "kaizen," a.k.a. "continuous improvement" and "constant change for the better." And from Tony Robbins, we have "CANI" — Constant And Never-ending Improvement.
I think of both of these when learning more about the IIoT-related tools that keep getting better and better, when it comes to the evolution of Industry 4.0.
And at February's Industrial IoT Conference, they're reflected through the following:
- Alex Besen's session when the show officially opens has been titled "Factory of the Future: Manufacturing Lessons from the Automotive Sector." Therein, he'll take a look at the modern factory floor and how improving production efficiencies, enabling remote monitoring and much more are calling into question the present-day efficacy of legacy production (and how it's having trouble competing).
- The focus then turns to factory networks and industrial-scale security breaches. (After all, manufacturing systems stay in place for decades; odds are good that patches have not been implemented across all systems.) New standards involve continual device verification and responsible (and often AI-driven) oversight. This "Implementing Zero Trust to Reduce Security Risk" discussion will be led by Olivier Allarie and Steve Hanna.
- Later, another session — "Under Pressure: Oil &* Gas and IoT in the Field and on the Bottom Line," featuring Dheeraj Kapoor and Curtis Shuck — will highlight modern concerns for a.) maintaining production and b.) monitoring the profitability of extraction and refinement when considering implementing advanced IIoT-focused solutions, AI and more. What proper procedures may not be fully addressed? How is success measured?
- Then, digital twins and IIoT. In the session "Digital Twins: Improving Operations – Going Beyond Alarm Monitoring," Bill Pugh and I will discuss why digital twins should be utilized far more today (and for more than mere diagnostics). The reality of operations is that most production devices are old and were built before high-quality connectivity was considered necessary to management platforms. So, we'll talk about legacy devices' and system's problems, how digital twins can contribute to the harnessing of great analytics and quality assurance, and what safeguards should be involved to make the best decisions.
- From there, there'll be a discussion about migration from industrial products to services; a difficult demand problem to ascertain, to be sure. What drives adoption in IoT/IIoT? What can industry leaders learn about innovation that rapidly gains loyal customers in 2025?
- Coming back to the factory floor, a session about "Harmonizing the Noise and Translating the Chatter" will talk attendees through further issues involving legacy systems and how Industry 4.0 is truly a driver for synchronizing system management across all vital production systems (while enabling the scale required for entire facilities).
- Finally, we'll look at warehousing and distribution during "Finished Goods: Lessons in Distribution Center Technology." Given all this innovation we have discussed, the speed of development must be reflected in the warehouse. IIoT solutions can help support some of the most vulnerable processes, distribution-wise. In this session, attendees will learn more about how robotics and other tools are rapidly improving supply chain operations and much more.
For additional info about our Industrial IoT Conference, click here.
Edited by
Alex Passett
