Blogs - Industry 4.0

IoT & Predictive Maintenance: Give me your data and I will improve your maintenance

20 June 2016

This is a bold claim perhaps, certainly as it is made by a data scientist with no particular knowledge of machines, trains or planes, or any experience in running a factory. Yet I am convinced that in your data we can find clues for improving your maintenance process, be it in the form of improved up-time, reduced costs or extended operational lifetime of your equipment. The reason I'm confident is that nowadays the power of computers to find patterns and correlations in vast amounts of data far exceeds the ability of any human to detect such clues. Read more

3D printing and the Circular Economy

13 May 2016

An increasing number of organizations are currently discovering the competitive advantage they could gain by setting up a circular economy based business model. In a circular economy (as opposed to a linear economy), no value is leaked through resource waste as these resources are rendered infinite. 3D printing is a technology with much potential to help companies to ‘close the smallest loop possible’ and create revenue in several ways. Read more

Industry 4.0 and operational excellence: an introduction

5 July 2015

The pursuit of perfection: has it stopped?
Let me start this series of blogs with a controversial question: Do you see a difference in the LEAN six sigma approach of today when you compare it with the one of 10 years ago? Read more

Field Lab for Multi-Material 3D Printing

13 Dec 2016

The Smart Industry Field Lab for Multi-Material 3D Printing (MultiM3D) officially kicks-off on December 7th this week. The Field Lab MultiM3D is a co-creation platform in which parties along the value chain develop and validate next generation multi-technology and multi-material 3D printing solutions to the benefit of the Dutch 3D printing sector. Partners in the Field Lab include TNO, Admatec, ECN, HTSC TU/e, Nextdent, Philips Lighting, Océ, DoMicro and PwC. PwC’s role within this consortium will primarily  focus on assessing how the added value of MultiM3D can be unlocked taking into account the future potential as the technology matures (and additive manufacturing systems and services improves).

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How to increase shareholder value with Industry 4.0: M&A in the industrial manufacturing sector

16 Mrt 2016

Industry 4.0, and the pressure to add new capabilities
I know for a fact that the way to increase shareholder value is no longer the way that Henry Ford had in mind ‘Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black’. Today customers want best value and custom made products. Manufacturers are more often using a build-to-order production strategy to meet today’s high demanding customer needs and to shorten lead times between placement of an order and actual delivery. Read more

The impact of Industry 4.0 on your tax strategy is bigger than you may think.

5 Oct 2016

When you think about Industry 4.0 and the impact it might have on your company, chances are that tax is not the first that comes to mind.

Frankly, it is not uncommon to see companies where the tax function, or even the finance function as a whole, is not fully aware of the latest developments in Operations. The other way around, people in charge of the operations side of the business don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about the tax aspects of their decisions. Read more

Industry 4.0: From strategy to execution... and vice versa

6 Mrt 2016

Industry 4.0 is a hot topic, and you can probably spend a lifetime on reading all related articles. What is clear today, is that we are entering a new era of operational business, and that disruption is knocking on the door. Not all of the promises will become reality, but we can't neglect it either. What does this mean for the way you define and execute your operational strategy? Read more

Six key success factors to create value with Industry 4.0

16 Dec 2015

Industrial companies can harvest enormous rewards from Industry 4.0 technology. Yet creating value with disruptive technologies and data analytics is likely to pose a challenge. In the first episode of this blog series, we identify the key success factors to become an Industry 4.0 champion. Read more