Volume 3 Issue 3 March 2021
A
Paperitalo
Publication
In this Issue
Welcome to Industree 4.0 for March 2021, exclusively sponsored by SAP. We lead off with an information about SAP's upcoming international conference. That is followed by regular columnists Pat Dixon and Jim Thompson. We'll wrap with other perspectives from around the industry.
SAP
Key Themes at the International SAP Forest Products, Paper & Packaging Digital Event

The world is facing a ‘new norm’ as major social, fiscal and environmental deviations challenge old conventions. Whilst there are huge changes on the horizons, there are also exciting prospects for growth.

The International SAP Conference for Forest Products, Paper & Packaging (Apr 27-29) is a fully immersive three-day live digital event which will feature global leaders discuss all the hot topics affecting the global community right now including:

Digital Transformation throughout the Value Chain

The use of technology is not a new concept for paper and packaging companies. However, in order to respond to global trends such as empowered customers, disruptors from adjacent industries, and the availability and prices of raw materials, there is a growing need for companies operating in this industry to drive IT innovation beyond manufacturing to all steps of the value chain.  

Supply Chain Planning and Execution

In the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic, upheaval was evident across the globe, with many industries facing fragmented supply chains and disruption of traditional B2B and B2C distribution. 2021 has begun much the same, but companies are already taking onboard lessons from the previous year and introducing steps to innovate their processes in order to keep their businesses moving.

Sustainability

Rising consumer consciousness, regarding sustainable and recyclable packaging, along with the strict regulations being imposed by various environmental protection agencies, regarding the use environment-friendly packaging products, is driving the market for innovation throughout the industry. However perceptions and priorities regarding packaging differ by country and require a granular response.

Featured speakers include:

Mondi, Rainer Steffl, CIO

• End Fireside Chat: SAP S/4HANA at Mondi

Steinbeis Papier GmbH, Ulrich Middelberg, Head of IT

• End-to-End Digital Transformation With SAP to Optimize Sustainable Paper Production

Heinzel Group, Andreas Bechtloff, Head of IT Applications

• Managing transform to an Intelligent Enterprise to be prepared for future challenges

Perlen Packaging, Philipp Morgenthaler, COO

• Operational Excellence: Meeting Agile Business Requirements and Optimizing Mill Processes with Data-Driven Integration

Evergreen Packaging, Sanjay Srivastava Sr. Director - IT 

• Managing transform to an Intelligent Enterprise to be prepared for future challenges

Orora Limited, Anoop Thakur, General Manager Procurement

• Resilience in Delivering Projects

Sandler AG, Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, Member of Management Board

• Adaptive System that Provides Agility to React Quickly to Dynamic Market Needs

Klabin

• Extended Warehouse Management in the Forest Industry

Talo Analytic International, Inc. and Paperitalo Publications, Jim Thompson, CEO

• Post-COVID-19 Pulp & Paper Industry Trends

Make sure you’re at the top of your game by learning from the best this April. Find out more here or Register now.

Importantly, the event is running in conjunction with three other highly related industry events – registration for one event provides access to all 4 events. Find out more:




Single site Industry 4.0
By Pat Dixon, PE, PMP

President of 
www.DPAS-INC.com, offering project management and engineering for industrial automation projects.



Most of our discussion of Industry 4.0 has focused on connecting facilities to the rest of the enterprise through the Internet. What if your entire enterprise is a single site?

Your company may have a single paper machine. All of the operations people are in the same building with the process equipment and control system. On the same property in a building right next to the mill is the corporate office where all company executives have their offices. To connect the control system in the mill to servers running MES and ERP applications, you just need to run ethernet cables between the buildings. You don’t need to remotely connect across the Internet between the corporate office and the mill. Is this Industry 4.0?

While this mill may be internally connected, it is not externally connected. Most people within the enterprise can connect from the plant floor to the top of the enterprise without Internet connectivity, but your sales agents won’t be connected when they are at a client location. Your process control and IT people will not be able to remotely connect from their home in the middle of the night when they need to diagnose and fix a problem. Beyond the connectivity of personnel internal to the enterprise, external resources like vendors need connectivity if they are going to do remote monitoring and engineering.  

Another benefit of Industry 4.0 connectivity is the ability to host applications in the cloud. For those applications that don’t require realtime response and determinism, the cloud offers outsourcing of responsibility for capital and maintenance.

Industry 4.0 applies to every manufacturer at every scale.
Throwing away the Keyboard
Along about 53 or 54 years ago, I took typing in high school. I was not prescient, my plan was to type my papers when I got to the university in a couple of years. Turns out typing, or "keyboarding" as the kids call it today, was one of the most important motor skills I ever learned. It has been essential to communicate with all sorts of computer systems.

The keyboard will fad away, and likely sooner than we think. In our office and home, we have adopted the "Alexa" system from Amazon. If you think about it, this is nothing but a very large, perhaps gigantic, Industry 4.0 application.

Already, Alexa, via my voice, can perform arithmetic functions, summon vast amounts of data, music and current events. Its limits at this time are truly just my imagination.

More complex tasks, such as composing this newsletter, are not quite within Alexa's grasp just yet. Neither is operating a paper machine, although simple commands should be available. One of the first voice commands I would think applicable and implementable now would be, "Execute Emergency Stop!" or something similar. Of course, the computer system will need to discern whose commands to obey and whose not to obey.

My grandsons are learning keyboarding, but I suspect they will throw them away by the time they are 30 years old.
Strategic and Regulatory Impediments to IoT Data Archiving and Management
By Stefan Vucicevic
The regulatory landscape is starting to pick up with the IoT sector and smart devices could soon become the focal point in many ediscovery and legal dispute cases.
Ransomware and IoT Malware Detections Surge by Over 60%
By Phil Muncaster
Last year saw a double-digit surge in ransomware, IoT threats, new malware and cryptojacking, in what SonicWall has described as a “tipping point” in the cyber-arms race.
Firmware Questions for Every IoT Developer
By Francois Baldassari
As connected devices continue to mature, the industry will continue to see a virtuous cycle of creating value for customers as hardware improves. By approaching IoT development and firmware updates with the same kind of iterative and responsive processes ingrained within software development, device manufacturers can eliminate customer frustration while delivering a more reliable, valuable, and stickier product.
How Augmented Reality Can Support Industry 4.0
By Caitlyn Caggia
While there are many outstanding technical challenges, the largest barrier to bring AR into industry will be organizational change. These use cases serve as proof-of-concept for both the immense technical and quality advantages AR can bring to Industry 4.0, and they provide a preview to the operational adjustments that AR will require.
Industree 4.0 is exclusively sponsored by SAP