Industry 4.0 gets rolling

More than half of the manufacturing companies surveyed in the DACH region are already using networked software solutions. At 66 percent, an even higher proportion plans to introduce Industry 4.0 software solutions in the next twelve months.

This is the result of a survey conducted by Bosch Software Innovations among 181 manufacturing managers in producing companies, including some Bosch plants.

Today, Industry 4.0 software solutions are already mainly used to monitor machine and production process data and thus to improve essential manufacturing KPIs.

In an overall comparison, Bosch plants use Industrie 4.0 software solutions significantly more frequently. 73 percent of these plants already use corresponding technologies.

"This result underscores the high priority Bosch places on the future of manufacturing, both as a lead supplier and as a lead user"

says Daniel Hug, head of the Manufacturing and Logistics vertical at Bosch Software Innovations.

"This is because we are not only developing solutions for networked production, but are also using them specifically and already very successfully in our own plants.

Thanks to the unique symbiosis of manufacturing and IT expertise, we know exactly what the market needs and can implement beneficial applications today."

Data monitoring

Overall, the companies that use Industrie 4.0 software solutions focus on applications for monitoring manufacturing processes and data, such as monitoring machine data (72 percent), process and quality data (70 percent), and logistics processes (58 percent).

The picture is similar for companies planning to use Industry 4.0 software solutions. Predictive maintenance will play a greater role for companies in the future. 50 percent plan to establish Industry 4.0 software solutions.

"Predictive maintenance was one of the first application scenarios discussed in the context of Industrie 4.0"

Hug explains.

"The time now seems ripe for initial pilot applications."