As with any investment, it\u2019s only worth time and effort if the ultimate ROI is significant. Industry 4.0 is no different. What makes Industry 4.0 especially compelling for manufacturers is the value that data accumulates brings to a factory in the long-term.\u00a0Data is the only asset that is guaranteed to appreciate over time<\/strong>. Since big data and data analytics are the backbones of Industry 4.0 technology, it\u2019s especially beneficial for manufacturers to start investing\u00a0today<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Why?<\/em><\/p>\n Because it can take a long time to create a full-fledged smart factory.\u00a0In competitive markets like manufacturing, it\u2019s vital to have the foresight to adopt new technology that will keep you ahead of your competition.<\/strong> By integrating smart factory technology and simultaneously adjusting your operations from the insights gleaned from those solutions, early adopters of Industry 4.0 technology will gain a competitive advantage over those who play ‘wait and see’.<\/p>\n Contrary to popular belief, taking the first steps to building a smart factory don\u2019t have to be a painful, headache-filled process. With services like\u00a0Oden, which makes data collection and hardware tech integration easy for manufacturers pressured to digitize, it\u2019s become easier than ever to make the move.<\/p>\n When most people hear \u201cIndustry 4.0\u201d or \u201csmart factory\u201d they picture an extremely expensive, entirely automated factory filled with machine-learning robots working 24\/7. In reality, a smart factory can be achieved by simply connecting your existing equipment to IoT devices that capture data and installing software that provides analytics that shorten your time to resolution and production improvement.<\/p>\n If you implement Industry 4.0 technology today, you\u2019ll benefit from it in both the short term, by making immediate production improvements, as well as in the future, when you are ready to adopt more technology into your factory. Manufacturers who start data collection now will also benefit from having years of data to train machine learning models on to make better, more informed decisions.<\/p>\n This simply isn\u2019t true. In fact, PwC recently did a thorough study on Industry 4.0, in a global perspective, and published their findings in a\u00a030+ page analysis<\/a>. The PwC study even shows that 83% of manufacturers, in various industries and countries, believe that data analysis will become important to their operations by 2021. In fact, even General Motors, one of the dominating manufacturers in the automotive industry,\u00a0has made moves<\/a>\u00a0to integrate data gathering systems into their operations. If that\u2019s not enough proof that Industry 4.0 is coming to fruition, Oden is living, breathing proof that the manufacturing industry is leading the pack of Industry 4.0\u2019s exponential growth.<\/p>\n This one definitely has some merit to it. There are few resources circulating in the world of manufacturing that provide clear and concise information about Industry 4.0, which is the exact reason\u00a0why we produce that content<\/a>.<\/p>\n We\u2019re trying to increase Industry 4.0 literacy through our weekly content because we believe that manufacturers looking to digitize shouldn\u2019t be left in the dust of technological innovation. We want to provide the resources that will help them learn why the journey to digital manufacturing is important, inevitable, and\u00a0easy to start today<\/a>.<\/p>\nMisconception 2: \u201cIt\u2019s not worth making the difficult transition into smart manufacturing.\u201d<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oden.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/smart-factory-robots.gif\")
<\/p>\nMisconception 3: \u201cIndustry 4.0 isn\u2019t happening anytime soon.\u201d<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oden.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/wireless-machine-control.png\")
<\/p>\nMisconception 4: \u201cIt is difficult to learn about Industry 4.0.\u201d<\/h2>\n
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