ITRI’s Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories Head Zhong Yu-liang stated, “Change in industries is rapidly taking place. For instance, the 3D printing OEMs of the past have gone from costing US$4,000 to the current rate of US$25, and this technology has value for use in LIDAR identification technologies. Therefore, currently as long as the amount is large, the cost can be kept low. This is because there is currently demand for self-driving vehicles, and numerous well-known global unicorn companies are being cultivated, such as Velodyne and Quanergy, the later of which is dedicated to the development of solid state radar sensors and solutions.”

Zhong Yu-liang emphasized that industry 4.0 will involve increased automation. For instance, defective products can be detected through online AI in order to decrease the amount of people in the workforce. Currently companies which are entering into industry 4.0 include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC) and the Japanese companies FANUC and Fujitsu Ltd. These companies are responding to manufacturing trends, such as large volume customized manufacturing, human-centered manufacturing environments, high customer involvement in manufacturing, process visualization, and equipment for predictive health monitoring and diagnosis.

He also stated that industry 4.0 is currently divided into the following categories: SaaS (software services), PaaS (IoT platforms), laas (sensors and controllers). Contemporary metals and textiles industries also have pressure to transform, and they are being faced with the requirements of having sort delivery times, customization, small work forces, testing, and efficiency. Therefore transformation is a necessity.

(TR/ Phil Sweeney)