We define a Smart Process as a standardised transactional or industrial process that, through the systemic application of technological methods and solutions, interacts bi-directionally in real time with its environment in order to adapt to its changes.
Intervening in one's own production processes is another winning solution that Considi recommends in order to take a step towards I4.0.
How? By introducing a standardised transnational or industrial process that is able to interact in real time with the surrounding environment and adapt to its changes. This requires the systematic use of technological methods and solutions.
The challenge is to increasingly reconcile the physical and digital worlds through the creation of cyber-physical systems capable of sharing data for self-monitoring, self-learning, self-management and self-adaptation. This means continuing to work on making processes robust and stable with defined standards, learning about and experimenting with the most suitable enabling technologies, and a thorough understanding of what useful data needs to be intercepted and collected in real time to enable decision-making at all levels. The key words for a smart process are:
Real time:
Analysis systems must be able to quickly interpret the collected data, derive useful value from it and thus trigger an immediate response mechanism.
Normalisation:
To standardise the data collected by the various software applications already present in the company so that it can be directly correlated and usable by all applications.
Collaboration:
The ability of all components (machines, humans, processes) to interact and communicate in order to work together.
Sharing and decentralisation:
Moving from a distribution of information linked to one's role in the company to a system accessible to everyone (including customers and suppliers), so that decisions can be made where things happen.
Flexibility or modularity:
Adapting easily and quickly to changes and different circumstances; through advanced software and systems, external or internal changes can be responded to efficiently without consequences that destabilise the entire system.
This becomes possible by taking the Digital Transformation Path that follows 9 paradigms: