Jacob Bullard is a Business Manager with a focus on supporting customers transition to Industry 4.0 within manufacturing. Jacob has been a part of ALTEN UK since 2017, where he started off as one of our Engineers, supporting the development of traction batteries for electric vehicles. In this article, Jacob explains what Industry 4.0 is, and how ALTEN can support a company’s transition to Industry 4.0.

What does Industry 4.0 mean?

‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’. While we learn in school about the industrial revolution that spearheaded Britain and the world into the modern age, we forget about the subsequent revolutions in manufacturing that took place after. The first industrial revolution bought us mechanical machines. The second bought us mass production and assembly lines, and the third bought us IT, automation and robotics. The fourth and ongoing revolution brings us into smart technologies such as Machine Learning, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented reality, as examples.

How do these things help?

Industry 4.0 technologies help companies gain full insight into their production processes. These systems and technologies can collect vast amounts of data that can feedback into the production, creating a lean and efficient process.

How can ALTEN support?

ALTEN UK currently works with major suppliers within the Aerospace sector to support their transformation to Industry 4.0. We can provide tailored solutions for all our customers, depending on their needs. However, some of our current activities include:

• Supporting the development of systems that allow direct communication of manufacturing processes to the shop floor, to allow real-time decision making within the production process.
• Benchmark reports and evaluation of current Data Analytics Platforms available in the marketplace, focused on: limitations, capabilities, manufacturing and aerospace experience.
• Using Lean Methodology and tools to provide the best digital KPIs and solution for the client.
• Interfacing with customer teams and internal stakeholders in order to ensure all requirements and opportunities have been captured.
• Supporting development of prototype augmented reality solutions.

If you need support in production digitalisation, digital transformation or want to know more about our services, please send an email to us at communication@alten.co.uk