Accelerate your Industry 4.0 transformation

What is Industry 4.0, or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?

Industry 4.0 or commonly known as the industrial internet of things (IIoT), describes the application of internet of things technologies in industrial processes and manufacturing. By implementing solutions/ concepts related to big data, machine learning, digital twin, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics etc., manufacturers aim to achieve the optimal level of responsiveness, adaptiveness and fully connected processes of a smart factory.

Some of the key concepts are the convergence of cyber-physical systems, with the advent of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) such as data analytics, robotics, and wireless communications. This result in the emergence of intelligent and autonomous networks that are capable of communicating and interacting with one another, and centralised factory control systems that increasingly give rise to decentralised decision-making.

To start your transformation journey, the Smart Industry Readiness Index is a diagnostic tool which companies can use to better understand the key aspects of Industry 4.0/ IIoT concepts, as well as to evaluate the current state of their facilities. It offers pragmatic analysis across the three fundamental building blocks of Industry 4.0 – Process, Technology and Organisation.

Originally developed in a partnership between TÜV SÜD and Singapore’s Economic Development Board, the Smart Industry Readiness Index is based on the Reference Architectural Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) framework and has been thoroughly validated by an advisory panel of academic and industry experts. To ensure that it is an easy-to-use tool, the Index was applied with companies and their employees, within a diverse range of manufacturing sectors (e.g. chemical, biomedical, electronic, aerospace) and across all business sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Why is the Smart Industry Readiness Index so important for your business?

Many manufacturers have provided feedback that Industry 4.0 is often talked about in broad, all-encompassing terms in literature. Further, there are various jargons and buzzwords associated with Industry 4.0. Hence, there is a need to establish a common understanding of Industry 4.0 by breaking down its concepts into digestible, key building blocks and provide a clear articulation of the tangible benefits to companies. 

The first step for a business with Industry 4.0 aspirations is to identify which aspects it must address to harness the full potential of a transition. The Smart Industry Readiness Index assessment process provides a valuable understanding of critical dimensions, as well as crucial insights into the individual facility’s status against those factors. This enables manufacturing companies to migrate by taking a targeted, step-by-step approach, thereby creating tangible value for the business.

What Industry 4.0 services does TÜV SÜD offer?

Our experts apply the Index framework to evaluate your Industry 4.0 maturity in terms of technology, process and organisational culture. Our approach is robust in both theory and practicality and is simple for any organisation to use – regardless of size or industry. To date, TÜV SÜD has completed hundreds of assessments with multi-national corporations and SMEs across all industries.

The Index assessment will be conducted by TÜV SÜD and will be take place over 2 half-day workshops. Prior to the workshop, TÜV SÜD will schedule a short call and provide pre-reading materials, including information about Industry 4.0 and the benefits that it could bring to companies. During the first workshop, TÜV SÜD will clarify the assessment principles, explain the objective of each dimension and help companies evaluate themselves across the 16 dimensions. After the first workshop, TÜV SÜD will schedule a second workshop to validate the high-impact initiatives and projects your company identified to start work on.

Why choose TÜV SÜD to help your company become Industry 4.0 ready?

With extensive industrial technology and process optimisation knowledge, TÜV SÜD ensures that companies take a comprehensive perspective in assessing every dimension of their business. This helps them to avoid the trap of adopting a purely technological focus, where critical areas such as process design and workforce development are often overlooked.

Your benefits at a glance

• Establish a common understanding of Industry 4.0 – break down the concepts into digestible, key building blocks and provide a clear articulation of the tangible benefits.

• Initiate a high-impact transformation – understand the status quo of your current processes, systems and structures.

• Realise the full benefits of Industry 4.0 – migrate in a targeted, gradual manner to convert concepts into real business value.