Application of Big Data and the Internet of Things in Industry 4.0

Recent technological developments have altered the working conditions in manufacturing industries. Currently, the term Industry 4.0 is used to describe the fourth industrial revolution that has enabled the digitization of the value chain. This revolution has also enabled the connection of production sites via intelligent information systems, which means that machines can communicate with other machines and products. In addition, more accurate data can be delivered, and information can be processed in real time. However, history says that technological development takes time. The complete adoption and realization of the potential of Industry 4.0 will likely require about 20 years. Our discussion in this paper is based on a particular example of an automation integration platform. To understand the potential of big data and the Internet of Things in manufacturing companies, we investigated the production process of an auto parts company. Currently, data is collected manually and automatically. Other types of data are automatically recorded by an information system. Depending on where in the production process the data is collected, the data are logged and processed using different systems.