Industry 4.0 at MACH

Of all the trends affecting engineering and the manufacturing sector at the moment, Industry 4.0 – or Internet of Things – looms largest at this year’s Mach show. Indeed the event is itself billed as an industry 4.0 exhibition.

The exhibitors’ stalls aren’t the only place where visitors can learn about this new suite of  technologies. The seminar theatres have also featured many sessions touching on how digital developments can be made to work for enterprises. Taking a specific look on one particular aspect of technology, measurement, on Tuesday Markus Grau, director for 3D machine vision at Faro UK, looked at how requirements that at first glance seem to contradict each other can be harmonised, with measurement technology satisfying both an increased need for flexibility and mobility as well as necessity for closer integration processes and infrastructure; Grau also examined human robot collaboration.

On day 4, Rab Scott, head of digital at the AMRC, took a more general view, presenting a session on “the changing face of manufacturing in a digital age”, which will give an introduction to the adoption path for these latest technologies into existing businesses, and insights on how value can be extracted from industrial digitalisation.