Industrial plants can benefit from digitalisation and current technological advances in artificial intelligence, connectivity, computing and sensors. For instance, their equipment can be augmented with sensors that are wirelessly connected to a central system that oversees the entire production. Such a system can not only monitor production but also control it, making decisions on its own.
This concept is also called Industry 4.0 holds promises and opportunities for the field of sustainable process technology. Process optimization using sensors, connectivity and intelligent control enables more efficient use of energy and resources. Digitalization can result in predictive quality, predictive cost, predictive supply and predictive maintenance. It can also enable information sharing across the supply and value chain and across production plants.
Industry 4.0: digitalising the process industry
Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth industrial revolution, where digitalisation, automation and data exchange is used to optimize manufacturing technologies.
At the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology, we aim to accelerate this concept. Together with the industry, we develop applications in research, operations, and maintenance. And we work on capacity building, amongst others by means of learning communities and skills labs.
