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for successindustry4.0, manufacturers must treat information technology (IT) as the golden hen to improve the efficiency of capital, assets and operations. market intelligence firm Frost & Sullivan emphasizes continuous innovation and identifies six major challenges that manufacturing is bound to face.

According to EBN Online, Frost & Sullivan divides companies into three categories based on the speed of progress. The first category of enterprises is afraid of digitization due to lack of resources, such as lack of time and money, and the second category of enterprises is selective Proof-of-Concept (PoC), the third type of enterprise embraces Industry 4.0 with numerous proof-of-concepts and budgets of $50,000 to $5 million. No matter what kind of business, when it comes to digital transformation, it will inevitably face the following six challenges.

The first key issue is having a vision for the factory of the future. Manufacturers must understand that the courage to adopt new production models and technologies can digitize the product production cycle. In this way, as Frost & Sullivan said, the production line of the future will hardly require human intervention, machines can work side by side with humans, and most of the manpower only needs to stay in the control room to supervise, fully realizing the integration of people, processes and technology.

To achieve this goal, manufacturers must digitize legacy assets, digitize built-in system production technology to connect intelligent production processes and end-to-end manufacturing processes, and then track product quality in real time, reduce cost of poor quality (COPQ) and achieve customer-centric Innovation.

The second key topic is transformational technology.especially data analysis and3D printingthe latter can be combinedCNC machine(CNC) together to support additive manufacturing innovation. Frost & Sullivan predicts that these technologies will obsolete traditional business models, moving from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance (PM), while enabling entirely new business models, moving from selling specific items to selling “performance as a service”.

The third key topic is promoting cooperation. This includes diversifying sources of supply, which is particularly important when natural disasters strike. Otherwise, the supply chain may repeat the tragedy of the Japanese tsunami, making it difficult for technology manufacturers to obtain electronic parts. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) can also be applied to the supply chain to solve the problem of reduced meeting opportunities.

The fourth key topic is cybersecurity. Information security concerns prevent some manufacturers from adopting connected factories. Consider establishing an IT/Operational Technology (OT) Center of Excellence (CoE) to learn from 30 years of IT security technology development to improve manufacturing cybersecurity.

The fifth key issue is building a new generation of leaders. Frost & Sullivan found that organizational culture, corporate leadership, and the concept of return on investment (ROI) are the top three constraints on manufacturing transformation, so CEOs and top management must fully internalize Industry 4.0, and leaders must embrace new behaviors , new organizations, and new strategies, such as future-oriented leadership behaviors and mindsets.

The last is changing the dynamics of the workforce. As the workforce ages, these jobs will sooner or later be handed over to Gen Z, training is imperative, and the jobs of the future will require more cross-functional skills.