Humans remain a key link in Industry 4.0

Landing in the “valley of death” is a huge pitfall in research. Promising ideas often get bogged down in the research phase, and never get translated into industrial production. Solving this problem requires a strong bridge between universities, which focus on basic research, and companies that can make use of the results. Flanders Make bridges this gap by adding an extra research link. The organization ensures that good ideas which can create industrial value are actually implemented.

Flanders Make has grown into the biggest player in Industry 4.0 and its associated digital transformation in Flanders. Because it is anchored in Flemish universities, its experts keep their finger on the pulse of new developments in the sector. No wonder that CEO Dirk Torfs has a clear view of the trends for the future. Here, he shares four important developments, which Flanders Make is committed to pursuing.

“A second trend is the increasing importance of flexible and agile production, in the context of so-called high mix–low volume. Ever more customers are demanding customized products; and at the same time a wide range of new products is emerging. In order to be able to serve customers quickly, these products must be produced in small, changing volumes, instead of large mass production. In Flanders, we succeed in doing this in a competitive manner.

For employees in the manufacturing industry, this high mix–low volume means that they are always having to make new products. Instead of writing heavy operating manuals, we develop digital instructions. People see drawings on a tablet, which explain what they need to do. These digital instructions – which take into account employees’ level of experience and capabilities – simplify the work and increase convenience, so that employees succeed in getting more done than would otherwise be possible. For this reason, we’re also focusing on the use of cobots: robots that work together with humans. How can we optimally divide the tasks between machine and human in order to achieve a more flexible production environment?”