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According to the 2019 Official Annual Cybercrime Report, a business falls victim to a ransomware attack every 14 seconds. As manufacturers connect more equipment to the Internet of Things, ransomware and other security breaches pose a more serious threat to productivity.

Unplanned machine downtime costs the world’s manufacturers over $50 billion a year, with a major cause of this being unexpected equipment failure. How can modern sensor networks reduce unplanned machine downtime in the manufacturing industry?

In the classic film series Back to the Future, the risks and rewards of acting based on the knowledge of future events are explored through the adventures of Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly.  Manufacturers can reap the rewards of predicting the future by using machine learning to implement a predictive maintenance strategy and save substantial amounts of time and money.

In the film Minority Report, the foreknowledge of three psychics is used to predict crimes and apprehend the future offenders, stopping the crimes before they occur. Predictive maintenance strategies are not too dissimilar to this, in that they stop problems before they arise, saving both time and money for the company.

Evidence shows that components obsolescence is increasing rapidly. According to recent research by IHS Technology, in the year 2000 alone, component manufacturers issued 1,164 end-of-life (EOL) or product discontinuance notices, and the figure spiked to 5,506 by 2014. Though IHS forecasts that the number of such notices is going to decline, it’s always best to be prepared.

When an obsolete component breaks, manufacturers might struggle to find a replacement. This is especially true in highly regulated sectors like pharmaceuticals or food processing, where like-for-like replacements are not an option and the exact same part has to be sourced. Second-hand parts might seem like a great solution, but they come with a variety of risks.

Did you know that the term ‘computer’ originally described a job title? Before being electronic machines, computers used to be people who did mathematical calculations for companies or governmental authorities. Human computers played a vital role at institutions like NASA, but with the advent of electronic computers, their job became obsolete. The same happens to a lot of automation components, made obsolete by more modern and efficient alternatives.

Where do your products come from? Sometimes we only consider how far a product travelled from the warehouse to our front door. However, the journey from raw material to production, storage and delivery can cover several countries and continents, increasing carbon emissions and causing environmental issues.

People are doing what they can to help the environment. However, creating an impact takes more than installing a solar panel or swapping to energy efficient light bulbs. Manufacturers should consider how making small, impactful changes in their facility can actually make a difference in the environment. 

We all know that plastic is negatively impacting the planet, but do we know the extent of the problem? According to a study by Sciences Advances, of the 8.3 billion metric tons of produced plastic, 6.3 billion has become plastic waste and only nine per cent has been recycled. Industries must now think more about how they can reduce their contribution to the issue, particularly in manufacturing.