Robots will replace 20 million factory jobs by 2025, according to recent BBC news on the World Economic Forum report. Many administrative, manual and data entry jobs will be automated by smart technologies.
The concept behind these robots is Industry 4.0. This is the digital transformation of industrial processes through the intelligent networking of machines, business methods and people. It’s not about ‘replacing’ humans, it’s about creating new business models that change and improve the way we engage with our customers by optimising and automating business processes.
SAP’s Industry 4.0 strategy brings together solutions, data-driven apps, and enabling technologies that will improve your operations and create new types of service-based revenue streams and business models. This ranges from operations and maintenance, order-based production, factories that are networked, and adaptive logistics, through to value-based after-sales services and intelligent product development.
SAP’s Industry 4.0 architecture is based on 8 guiding principles:
- Secure
- Interoperable
- Vertically integrated
- Portable
- Open Sources
- Modular
- Extensible
- Multicloud
Enable digital manufacturing and supply chains with SAP’s smart technologies
Technology in manufacturing and supply chain is rapidly evolving, becoming very affordable, available and mainstream. IoT, cloud computing, AI and 5G speed up adoption, transform processes and let you gain huge benefits. SAP uses four main drivers to move from traditional software to digital production and manufacturing platforms:
- Full connectivity – to connect sensors in factories, plants and warehouses
- Data-driven optimisation – to harness huge amounts of operational data
- Intelligent algorithms and applications – to learn and carry out functions and capability across the organisation, factory or plant
- End-to-end integration – to enable planning and operations across all parts of the organisation, from material flows in plants, process controls to automated and guided vehicles for warehousing and much more.
What SAP applications support Industry 4.0?
SAP’s wide ranging and comprehensive portfolio of solutions and applications support Industry 4.0. From SAP S/4HANA to Digital SAP Manufacturing Cloud, this diagram demonstrates how SAP technology combines to make powerful solutions, with SAP Cloud Platform underlying IoT technology.
Don’t miss the opportunity to discuss this topic with experts from SOA People. We have many years’ experience innovating and optimising these business processes. If you would like to get an impression of the enabling technologies, such as IoT, robotic process automation or cloud, we would be happy to demonstrate them to you within business context of your business.