Industry 4.0 in the eyes of the semiconductor industry

paradigm shift, frequently referred to as Industry 4.0 (Industrie 4.0 in Germany), is currently taking place. In international usage, terms like (industrial) Internet of Things, smart factory or information-physical (production) systems all refer to the same thing and they are often used interchangeably. Industry 4.0 refers to the global trend towards digitisation and networking of industrial value chains and their products.
In particular, in Germany Industry 4.0 has a high profile not only in the business world. Due to its economic impact, Industry 4.0 is also politically driven, for example by the further development of the competitiveness of German manufacturing. In this context, government officials are promoting a dual strategy that combines the supplier perspective and the user company perspective, with the main areas being industrial automation and factory engineering. To do this, manufacturers have to use the latest technologies in their own production processes and on the other hand to put these technologies and products on the market.

From the perspective of the leading suppliers, the integration of information or communication technology with traditional high-tech methods is primarily aimed at expanding the production sector and its technology. In order to achieve this expansion, the prerequisites arising from increasing market dynamics and market complexity need to be met. From the perspective of manufacturing companies, it is important to design intelligent technologies and products for the new markets and to serve these markets accordingly. To meet the needs of suppliers and manufacturers, companies need strategies that balance both perspectives. Companies in the semiconductor industry, for example, are very good at using such dual strategies.
Semiconductor manufacturers such as ADI are digesting this complex concept and transforming their production lines into fully automated smart factories. In addition, these manufacturers are offering innovative technologies to other companies in the manufacturing industry to help them transform their manufacturing facilities into smart factories. An important role is thus given to small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up the vast majority of German industrial enterprises (over 98%). What kind of support is possible, what challenges semiconductor manufacturers face, and what opportunities Industry 4.0 will bring - these questions are explored below.
Companies need to determine whether transforming their production facilities into smart factories is a futile endeavour or whether it will actually increase productivity and reduce costs.
A number of market research companies have conducted extensive studies in order to find answers to the following key questions. They have all come to the same conclusion: Industry 4.0 will increase added value for SMEs and they should seize the relevant opportunities to consolidate their company's success. For semiconductor manufacturers in particular, the findings fall into three areas: new technologies, new products and new business models. All three aspects together cover the entire value chain of production and its products - starting from the sensor node through the cloud and on to downstream services.
In order to transform the smart factory, it is necessary to offer intelligent and energy-efficient products, or fully autonomous systems, which can be integrated quite simply into existing production structures (e.g. plug-and-play). These systems consist of various semiconductor devices and sensors, combined with analogue and digital signal processing ICs. The value chain starts with these devices: firstly, the sensors are responsible for collecting data from the real physical world and later converting them into digital signals, which are then processed in the digital domain
What are the new demands?
As the value chain evolves, market requirements will need to change. This is why semiconductor manufacturers must adapt their companies and products to the reality of smart factories. Technology trends are moving towards intelligent energy-efficient products as well as integrated safety and security functions and energy harvesting capabilities. The diagram shows a device or rather a complete system, of which the ADXL356, a MEMS-based accelerometer from ADI, is an example.
The ADXL356 is a low-cost, low-noise, 3-axis accelerometer with a measurement range of up to ±40 g (FSR). The key features of the device are its ultra-low out-of-tune drift and low power consumption. Thanks to its hermetic package, the ADXL356 is particularly suitable for accurate tilt measurements in harsh environmental conditions, high resolution vibration measurements and high performance (long time) measurements in low current or battery powered wireless sensors for applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM), attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) or other applications with sudden excessive forces, etc. The ADXL356 forms the basis of a ADRadioNet is a communication standard developed by ADI and features a wireless self-healing multi-hopping communication protocol, which is highly scalable and has low memory consumption. In addition, it has integrated encryption methods (e.g. AES-128 and AES-256) to block possible network attacks and improve security. Last but not least, functional security plays an important role in the development of these systems, as it is also very important for smart factories
For semiconductor manufacturers, it will not be enough to expand the variety of sensors and other semiconductor devices in the future. In order to become a global player in the market and to exploit the full potential of Industry 4.0, their existing product range must be extended by communication and low-power microprocessor technology. With this in mind, ADI already offers relevant solutions in its portfolio. In the field of communication, for example, there are various solutions with HART® modems. By using existing infrastructure to implement new energy-saving technologies, these HART solutions can improve traditionally overcrowded communication networks in a fairly simple way.
Market research also shows that small and medium-sized enterprises want strong support from manufacturers and suppliers to integrate new products into their systems more quickly and efficiently. In this way, companies can reduce the extra workload and continue to focus on their core business. Specifically, collaborative or cooperative efforts between suppliers and companies fall into the support category.
Despite the many benefits of Industry 4.0, the question now is why many companies have not yet invested in smart factories?