The 5 Steps To Bring Industry 4.0 Into Your Factory

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT Introducing Industry 4.0 is always a disruptive and challenging process for businesses and their employees. Manufacturers are progressively getting familiar with the idea of the smart factory and it is becoming hard to ignore its advancements towards becoming the new reality of the industry. One thing is clear: companies should prepare ahead and rethink their approach as the industry continuously advances towards the implementation of 4.0 technologies. As we already saw in previous blog posts, the technology of Industry 4.0 consists of interconnected systems. Consequently, data is shared across these systems allowing for the creation of meaningful insights. Manufacturers are then in the right position to analyze and make the best decisions for their factories towards a more lean environment (reducing expenses and optimizing operations). By now, you are probably wondering what are the exact steps you need to take to finally start your journey with Industry 4.0. We thought about this and compiled a list of the five main steps towards implementing 4.0 technologies to transition to the Smart Factory! 1_Identify Pain Points and Pick a Vendor The first step to start this journey is to document the pain…

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The Industry 4.0 in Europe and the Packaging Industry

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT A lot of questions have been raised regarding the capacity that Europe has to adapt to the revolution of Industry 4.0 and in the packaging industry in particular. In this blog post we will go over the four main topics to cover this subject Opportunities of Industry 4.0 Challenges Europe is facing to adopt Industry 4.0 Context in the packaging industry regarding Industry 4.0 The next steps to boost the adoption of 4.0 technologies According to the study done by Interreg Europe on Industry 4.0, the industrial sector has been seeing a great development due to the adoption of new digital technologies, materials and processes. The Industry 4.0 is progressively becoming a priority for policymakers in Europe. It can present itself as an impulse to productivity gains, redefine the whole industrial production model and potentially having a major impact on manufacturing employment.   Nevertheless, there is a very interesting scenario to be analyzed. Between 2007 and 2017, the EU economy has experienced a decline from 20.1% to 19.6% of the relative contribution of industry. Besides, the share of the industry also ranges from 30% in Ireland and Czech Republic to…

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5 Things You Need to Know About the Industry 4.0 Revolution to Kick-Start Your Journey

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT We are now living in an era where computers and automation have come together in a completely new way. More and more the input from human operators is not a key necessity anymore since systems have evolved to be almost entirely independent through machine learning, algorithms and AI.  This change brought by technology is often called the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Industry 4.0 revolution and it has impacted the way businesses are done ever since. The Industry 4.0 revolution is closing the gap between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). It is a multifaceted revolution made by some key ingredients such as IoT, test automation and digital twins, all of which are essential to combine the physical and virtual worlds. The merging of traditional manufacturing and technological innovation has resulted in fast changes for the industry which is forcing manufacturers to either adapt quickly or fall behind of what has been called the Smart Factory. While there are some challenges in this transition, we can’t ignore the great benefits that come with it -  increased test reliability and efficiency, cost reduction and improved product quality. The first big…

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Women In Manufacturing: Changing The Industry’s Mindset

The jobs in manufacturing are mainly held by men: according to a study by Pew Research Center, in the US women make 40% of the labour force and only 29% work in an industrial field. There are thousands of job places that cannot be filled and it's difficult for manufacturers to hire people for those spots. Women could play an important role in that. This gap needs to be filled, and could actually be filled by females. So how can we convince women to opt for a job position in manufacturing? There is a big number of qualified women in the workforce, so we have to understand careers in the industrial sector, are not that appealing for them. According to a study by Deloitte, women who work in manufacturing feel underrepresented. It is certain that if manufacturers want to have more women working for them, they will certainly need to change their strategy related to recruiting, retaining, and advancing women’s jobs in manufacturing. Nowadays, 6 out of 10 positions are not filled due to a manufacturing skill gap.     WHAT DOES NEED TO CHANGE? 1_DIVERSITY Diversity and profitability are directly correlated. Having teams with a lot…

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PackIOT Talks: Digital Transformation In Action with José Mauricio Coelho, CEO of C-Pack

Digital transformation is a topic that has been following us for quite a while. Since February/March 2020, we all saw how technology plays an important role in our lives, when we were saw ourselves forced to be in quarantine for two or more months straight. Suddenly our home became our office as well and seeing friends and family was only possible through a screen. Technology was our lifesaver during that period as it allowed us to keep in touch with each other. Companies who had not digitalized themselves until then, were forced to do so, in order to survive. “I know this is a hard moment but it is also an important one, where all the technological resources are more required than ever before, not only in the industry 4.0. I think now we are talking about family 4.0, work 4.0. Everybody is migrating to 4.0”. - José Mauricio Coelho, CEO of C-Pack José Mauricio Coelho, CEO of C-Pack Creative Packaging SA, has been following the evolution of technology over the years. He has been managing the implementation process of digital transformation projects. On this talk, he approaches the several obstacles he has come across with and…

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Innovation: Not As Fancy And Complicated As It Sounds

Written by Pedro Kirk, Project Specialist at PackIOT   Most companies are seeking innovation and new ways to present their products and services. That is an undeniable fact. However, there are huge misconceptions around innovation, like what is it, how to achieve it and finally the biggest and the worst of all: “it doesn’t suit my company”. The definition of innovation might be confusing and abstract, probably if you ask 10 different people about it, you will hear 10 different answers. This article does not intend to define it, that is a subject for another post. The idea that matters and is important to keep in mind is: innovation is a continuous process, a way to rethink standards and allow changes to happen.    Innovative vs. Inventive To be innovative does not (always) mean to be inventive! Disruptive concepts and products are the highest level of this process, it does take a while to achieve it. Until then, there is still a lot of value in the journey. Car sharing services, like Uber, or Tesla’s electrical vehicles, among several other examples, have been changing our lives and are considered references to innovation. But does that mean they…

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How An Analytics System Can Help You Reshape The Culture Of Your Manufacturing Team

Written by Leonor Rocha | Customer Success at PackIOT   Every organization has its own definition of culture. Even though we live in a globalized world, there will always be specific characteristics connected to the local and national culture that will define an organization. Culture can be regarded as a collaborative journey of sensemaking, which can be described as a process that involves the cooperation of all parts that compose an organization, in order to raise awareness and understanding from different perspectives and interests of their individuals. The culture of an organization has to be something in constant development, always shaping itself to the circumstances lived, as well as to the changes and to the evolution that occurs. So, whenever you decide to implement anything in your company, you should first think about your cultural roots. "It says that a crucial purpose of culture is to help orient its members to “reality” in ways that provide a basis for alignment of purpose and shared action."   Creating the perfect data-driven team by reshaping the one you already have Data analytics is probably one of the buzzwords of this century. Everybody wants to be part of a data-driven…

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Why real-time data matters for the packaging industry

I don't even think we should start this article by telling you the benefits of real-time data. The best approach is to begin by showing you what happens when you don't have it. A good way to explain this is to imagine a scenario where you're driving your car: not having real-time data is the same as looking through the rearview mirror while driving, without paying attention to the road. Can you imagine pilots, air traffic controllers, and airport managers relying only on data collected 12 hours ago? Or two weeks ago? They need to make decisions on real-time. It seems an exaggerated example (and it is), but it's just to make a point and warn you that your plant might be losing a lot of money if you keep on using data collected on paper and excel spreadsheets (which have become obsolete). Manufacturing plants that do not have real-time data are always one step behind of the resolution of any problem. Or worse, they are always one step behind of finding out they have a problem. Real-time data in the packaging industry (manufacturing) The evolution of technology makes changes happen at an ever-increasing speed and in…

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Read more about the article How To Get A High Engagement Level From Operators On A Production Line
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How To Get A High Engagement Level From Operators On A Production Line

*By Fernando Pacheco - COO at PackIOT First of all, I would like to make something clear: I don't wish this article to be another one of those "guru" posts that you read on the internet (10 things to do to keep your operator engaged).To write this text, I tried to compile the years of experience of our team of production specialists (at PackIOT), combined with my background as a manager and researcher. I really hope this can turn into something useful for you and your team. For whom this content is intended: line supervisors, shift coordinators, plant managers, industrial directors, business managers, operators, and future leaders. In a recent survey, TTI Global has released some choking data on engagement and satisfaction in the manufacturing sector. "According to these new insights - which canvassed employees across 11 industry sectors between December 2018 and 31st May 2019 - Manufacturing employees provided the lowest employee satisfaction score (7.4/10) overall".  Based on the data they have collected, they analyzed what Manufacturing employees expect, as well as what they value the most. The highest of these continues to be ‘Understanding what is required from you’ (39%), followed by ‘Support from your line manager’ (30%).…

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Intelligent Automation: The Future In Manufacturing

Written by Leonor Rocha | Customer Success at PackIOT Everything moves so fast that, if we needed to wait for someone to process high amounts of information that are generated every hour, it would take ages to come to a concrete conclusion. Intelligent automation and other technological processes were created with a purpose: simplify processes of data analysis. We live in a fast-paced world, with a natural tendency to become faster and faster as technology evolves. Even though many might still believe it came to replace us, one thing is for sure, technology was certainly designed to simplify our lives and change them for the better. In the industrial sector, it is often regarded as an invention conceived to take over the jobs of people who work in the field. I personally prefer to see it as an assistant tool conceived to work along with humans. It contributes to strengthening our intelligence and helps us to limit our exposure to intensive and monotonous activities that no one enjoys, but which are a necessity to forge ahead. Intelligent automation has as a core benefit, the capacity to improve the efficiency of certain processes, which are often unachievable by…

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