Broadcast: Industry 4.0 and IoT are here: Learn what it means for printers and beyond

What if printers and converters could eliminate downtime altogether? Some future day, right? Nope. The future is now thanks to Industry 4.0. Early adopters of the technology throughout the graphics industry prove the unprecedented potential of unlocking the power of the data at their fingertips.

One of the industry innovators leading this transition is Baldwin Technology. Its Industry 4.0 platform, AMP IoT, quickly connects the data from machines, accessories, MIS software, and workflow to obtain a holistic view of production and OEE regardless of the assets’ make, model, or vintage. Baldwin’s Steve Metcalf, Chief Marketing and IoT Officer, and Jake Schwertel, Engineering Supervisor and Chief Technical Architect of the AMP IoT Platform, gave Tyler Kern the low down on this Industry 4.0 transformation.

Metcalf said that a piece of production equipment often never reaches its full OEE (overall equipment efficiency) potential. Finding ways to reduce errors and increase usage can provide bottom-line benefits for many industries, not just graphics.

“Industry 4.0 has become popular in the last five-to-ten years, mostly as technology has advanced,” Schwertel said. “And it’s allowed us to gain access to all of the data of what’s going on, on the shop floor. Everything from like a print’s web speed to the curing power, and everything in between.” Utilizing this data creates the ability to calculate overall equipment efficiency across all assets in real-time. 

Aggregating that data from production equipment and putting it into context to develop insights and action plans is what makes platforms like AMP IoT such a critical tool. “What AMP as an IoT platform is doing is extracting that information and putting it into a meaningful context,” Metcalf said.