By: Saurabh Loomba, Head of Business Development – RCM, LTIMindtree NxT

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion in the number of organizations that have set their sights on unlocking the benefits of Industry 4.0 principles, and rightfully so, given that Industry 4.0 is set to grow at a CAGR of 16.3% till 2029. These principles involve the use of several modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, automation, blockchain, cloud computing, etc. The goal is to leverage these technologies to innovate new products, improve operational efficiency, boost customer satisfaction, and reduce environmental impact.

By relying on a wide array of sensors, AI, and the abovementioned key technologies, Industry 4.0 principles make it possible to create connected ecosystems. These ecosystems allow various means of customer engagement seamlessly integrated with the supply chain,  operations, and engineering teams. Employing these ecosystems has immense potential, like improving forecasting accuracy by up to 85%, increasing throughput by up to 30%, and reducing machine downtime by up to 50%.

Current industry trends

It’s not surprising that organizations today are looking to leverage the latest digital technologies to achieve a wide range of business objectives. The most important among these are operations optimization, immersive customer experience, dynamic and adaptable business models, more refined sales and marketing systems, and a faster product development cycle.

All these goals can be achieved through a connected ecosystem consisting of suppliers (primary, secondary, tertiary), equipment, supply chains, distributors, retailers, and smart products. This is precisely why digital engineering is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers today.

Typical challenges in implementing integrated solutions

A key observation underlying many current technological challenges is that today’s environment is ‘rich in data but poor in information.’ For a connected ecosystem to work, thus, it is vital to integrate data with systems.

There are several other challenges faced by organizations when trying to build connected ecosystems, including the use of legacy systems, massive amounts of operational data captured, the formation of data silos, security, and the translation of data into intelligent action.

How these challenges can be tackled

To successfully integrate Industry 4.0 principles and address the challenges mentioned above, organizations must consider certain ideas.

Make legacy systems smart, understand what data they need to capture and process, and equip them with the appropriate sensors.

Determine where the data is to be processed (edge/cloud), as it’s not always a good idea to send large amounts of data to the cloud to process and analyze; it should be possible to process data even at the edge.

Improve IT-OT (Information Technology-Operational Technology) convergence to drive business agility and superior decision-making.

Implement AI-powered digital operations and use AI on their connected assets to automate business actions.

Setting-up zero-trust OT and planning the security for all their OT technologies to have a hardened infrastructure.

Develop an effective data storage and consumption strategy and decide where to store data and how it will be funneled and consumed.

How LTIMindtree has been helping its clients

LTIMindtree has leveraged its domain expertise to develop a flexible approach to help organizations implement connected ecosystems. It can successfully address all the challenges mentioned above and more.

This digital adoption for the core functions of businesses to enable data-driven operations is the basis of the foundation of a connected ecosystem.

LTIMindtree’s Industry 4.0 solutions use data and analytics to understand market signals and create innovative go-to-market strategies, employ analytics to engage with your clients’ end-customers, improve their experience, and help make the core of Industry 4.0 future-proof using AI, connectivity, and augmented reality (AR) solutions.

Prepare for the future using the power of digital technologies

Industry 4.0 principles can unlock large amounts of untapped value in every manufacturing business, and it is imperative that manufacturers implement them effectively as quickly as possible. To help organizations undergo rapid digital transformations in line with Industry 4.0 principles, LTIMindtree offers its domain expertise and NxT platform. To learn more about how LTIMindtree can help you, please get in touch with us.