Industry 4.0: Reimagining Manufacturing Operations

1. In your opinion, how has the Manufacturing Tech landscape evolved over the years? What are some of the advantages of the current technological evolution?

The biggest advancement was the implementation of industry 4.0 features with the vertical and horizontal connectivity of the machinery and systems. In this context the big data acquisition and analytics offered transparency, improvement potentials of processes and operations. Further on, due to automation the efficiency could be increased by reducing wastes. Both above mentioned topics support the sustainable tire manufacturing in addition to the use of renewable raw materials, recycling technologies and energy efficiency measures.

Advanced manufacturing technology enables us to produce with high efficiency resulting in less production wastes and energy consumption. Additionally, we are capable to produce with tighter tolerances and new materials to further reduce the rolling resistance of the tires which contributes mainly to the improvement of the overall CO2 footprint.

2. What according to you are some of the challenges plaguing the Manufacturing Tech landscape and how can they be effectively mitigated?

Today, there are very high requirements for sustainability aspects (new materials, tighter tolerances). At the same time, more and more electronic parts are being integrated into tire design. This partly requires new machines and processes and requires from the machines a higher flexibility or specialized machines. Products will be also more customized which means for us more “small lot production” and less “mass production”.

Advanced manufacturing technology enables us to produce with high efficiency resulting in less production wastes and energy consumption.

The work of our employees in production is changing rapidly as a result of everadvancing automation. In the future our processes will be less operator dependant. This development must be anticipated and prepared.

3. Which are a few technological trends influencing Manufacturing Tech today? What are some of the best practices businesses should adopt today to steer ahead of competitors?

We are convinced that the ongoing development in the area of Big Data processing, automation and sustainability will continue and be further strengthened by additional technological innovations.

Automated manufacturing will gain importance. The main factors are the generation change, availability of workforce, ergonomic workplaces and manufacturing efficiency. As a result, the work of our employees in production is changing rapidly as a result of everadvancing automation. This development must be anticipated and prepared.

4. Do you have any advice for industry veterans or budding entrepreneurs from the Manufacturing Tech space?

Automated production continues to advance and is unstoppable in many industries. We should see this development as an opportunity and not as an obstacle. Although this means a lot of investment in the existing infrastructure and employees, it pays off in the end with even more effective production. It is important to accept this challenge at an early stage and not to postpone possible adjustments too far.