Gathering intelligence: how manufacturers can use Big Data

Manufacturers have always had to sift through large quantities of data from their production lines in order to understand how their businesses are performing.

But with the increasing use of sensors and instrumentation to monitor, measure and automate the production process, the sheer quantity of information that manufacturers are now faced with has risen dramatically in recent years.

That is set to increase exponentially with the adoption of Industry 4.0, a German government initiative to promote the greater use of sensors and automation within the manufacturing industry, with the aim of developing so-called smart factories.

But it is not enough to simply gather more data, companies need to be able to analyse it, in order to find previously hidden connections that can be used to improve their production processes and, ultimately, the performance of their business.

The term ‘big data’ is often used to describe both the sheer volume of information many companies are now generating, and the analytical tools used to manage and interpret it.