Lean Management and Big Data have a more and more relevant role for the future of production in the Industry 4.0. This is clear when you look at the last years of the industrial sector. Today companies aim – and manage – to increasingly reduce waste in the production process, thanks to the implementation of a more efficient, or leaner, system.

If the goal is the production process efficiency, the integration of mechatronics and industrial automation is a vital step. For this reason, among ESA Automation’s main objectives we find the creation of an interconnected system among mechanics, electronics and informatics. Creating solutions for the Industry 4.0 goes beyond designing and manufacturing innovative and performing technologies. It also (and above all) means to make these products part of an integrated system at every level of the production chain.

How important is cyber security for the Industry 4.0? With the principles of efficiency and connectivity of the fourth industrial revolution, a different side of the coin rises: the danger of cyber attacks. Ideally, the Industry 4.0 requires a completely interconnected reality, but this same characteristic uncovers an unexpected vulnerability. Because with connectivity, the effect and impact of eventual attacks grow as well.

Lean Manufacturing’s time has come or will it evolve with Industry 4.0? Experts have spent many hypotheses on this question. In ESA Automation, we believe in a future where lean production and Industry 4.0 not only can coexist, but are connected through an important bond.

The Industry 4.0 has shifted the focus on the importance of automated and interconnected production. More accessibility, efficiency and ability to exchange big volume of data among themselves: these are, in fact, the most important characteristics to look for in production machines and technologies, both to be competitive and to keep up with the new industrial principles.

The steam engine in the nineteenth century, electricity at the beginning of ‘900, and automation in the 1970s. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, technological advancement has driven productivity growth in industry. During the past years, we have witnessed a fourth and new wave of technological progress: the Industry 4.0, based on the rise of industrial digital technology.