Industry 4.0 in Automobile Production

This is a global company that deals with the manufacture and distribution of automobiles, buses, trucks, engines, luxury vehicles, and internal combustion. The company has experienced vast technological innovation through their years of production such as the introduction of the Pre-Safe system that detected an imminent crash and prepared the vehicle’s safety systems for optimal response (Gruber, 2013, pp. Benz Company has developed numerical designs that reflect on the relative marketing and performance position of the engines rather their actual displacement. Some of the models have been designed to indicate the special features of the products such as 4MATIC which represents a vehicle with all-wheel drive. However, the model badges are based on customer preferences and can be eliminated upon request. There has been the emergence of technological breakthroughs which includes fully autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, additive manufacturing, the fifth generation wireless technologies and the internet of items (Lee, Bagheri and Kao, 2015, pp.

The advancement in these technologies has affected most of the industries which alter the entire system of governance, management, and production in the firms. Industry 4. is expected to have the implementation of the emerging technologies which have the potential to produce disruptive effects. The industrial 4. It was considered as a phase of rapid industrialization (Szozda, 2017, pp. The third industrial revolution is also known as the digital revolution was characterized by the technological advancement from the mechanical elements and analog electronics to the current digital technology (Stearns, 2018, pp. It took place in the late 1980s to date and it marked the beginning of the information age. The major advancements are the internet, personal computer, digital cell phone and the ICT (Information Communication Technology) (Stearns, 2018, pp. The technological innovation has changed the techniques used in business and the traditional production processes.

There was the perfect alignment of the internet of items and the industrial revolution to form an even combination (Prause, 2015, pp. There was the occurrence of further evolution as there was the appearance of new things. This has been promoted by the research and development during the fourth industrial revolution. The basis for Industry 4. involves advancement in connectivity and communication rather than the technological development observed in the first three industrial revolutions (Lu, 2017, pp. It involves restructuring technology, workflows, and their automation to increase efficiency. The major step to the realization of Industry 4. is the full understanding of the process followed by designing an improved software interface that is more flexible and allows continuous enhancements and future updates. The main technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are the data collection, artificial and analytical intelligence, human-machine interaction and the introduction of automated machines (Theorin et.

al, 2017, pp. The cars will be able to provide prior communications of dangers ahead. It will involve augmented reality where the status of the design specification will be overlaid visually on the monitor where the planning for the factory and testing the model takes place. The cars will be assembled virtually with realism. Experienced employees can assess how their relevant job is optimally carried out through the test of an avatar. The assembling of the vehicles was done manually by the employees and hence the introduction of the virtual assembly has reduced the time spent in the assembly (Saldivar et. Mercedes Benz has achieved greater flexibility since the digital production allows the factory to easily respond to the market fluctuations and the increase in individual customer demand. With Industry 4. it is faster to produce rapidly increasing complex products.

The digital integration has simplified the modification of the existing production facilities and quicker installation of new ones. The innovation cycle is shorter and can be easily translated into the model series. The sales realized in 2017 increase by 9. per unit of vehicles produced which was an improvement from the previous years. Industry 4. has created a new perspective in working and lifestyle models. There is the interaction of machines and humans by the creation of new operating interfaces. There has been an improvement of 15% in assembly while the parts stores have reduced from 53 to 6. The overall logistics was more efficient by 20%. The sales of Mercedes-Benz trucks in Brazil increased from 12100 in 2017 to 13400 in 2018 (Teutsch et. al, 2018, pp. In conclusion, the implementation of Industry 4. a best practice project of the automotive industry. In Digital Product and Process Development Systems (pp.

Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Lee, J. Kao, H. based manufacturing systems. Manufacturing Letters, 3, pp. Lu, Y. Industry 4. A survey on technologies, applications and open research issues. and Chen, Y. December. Attribute identification and predictive customisation using fuzzy clustering and genetic search for Industry 4. environments. In Software, Knowledge, Information Management & Applications (SKIMA), 2016 10th International Conference on (pp. Stearns, P. N. The industrial revolution in world history. Routledge. Szozda, N. An event-driven manufacturing information system architecture for Industry 4. International Journal of Production Research, 55(5), pp. Teutsch, R. Cheruti, R. Gasser, R.