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Extrusion International 4/2016
COMPOUNDING
Compounding 4.0
Moving forward with AZO to the digital age with
networked processes, a comprehensive information
portal and the first Industry 4.0 components
Pic. 1: AZO defines the 4P as a goal to implement Industry 4.0
In many companies Industry 4.0 (or
the Industrial Internet of Things) is
currently a work-in-progress that not
everyone is willing to tackle. The first
enterprising projects indeed demon-
strate what digitisation can lead to,
for example in the sectors of additive
manufacturing, virtual reality and
robotics. The plastics industry and its
customers in particular can have high
expectations.
However this work-in-progress still
appears chaotic to many and, above
all, huge inmagnitude. Where do you
start? If you want to build a house, a
really big one with all the latest gad-
gets, the very latest in technology,
a sophisticated energy concept and
– for the possibly still distant future –
accessible for disabled users, you will
know: it doesn’t happen overnight.
You need to allow sufficient time
just to give thorough consideration
alone, which of the dreams it is abso-
lutely essential to realise, which are
only maybes and which should not
be realised until a later date. Some
Digitisation will rapidly lead to added value for the plastics and plastics-manufacturing
industries. High time to take a systematic approach to tackling the potential offered by
Industry 4.0 (or the Industrial Internet of Things) – to follow the example set by AZO, the
plant engineering company. The result has already seen several concrete projects, based on
careful analyses and estimates of potential, where Industry 4.0 and the ensuing opportunities
become reality.