According to a 2020 Deloitte study of more than 2,000 global manufacturing executives, 94 percent of them said digital transformation was their organization’s top strategic goal. However, in the same study, it was shown that two-thirds of manufacturers surveyed do not have a formal Industry 4.0 strategy to implement.

This lack of strategy indicates that entrepreneurs do not fully understand the benefits of moving their companies towards Industry 4.0 and the steps they can take to achieve it.

This article provides 5 powerful ways your company can begin to embrace Industry 4.0 through the power of 3D visualization.

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 refers to the various innovative technologies, such as Big Data, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), machine learning  and 3D printers, that are currently placing the manufacturing sector in an entirely new and digital technological environment. The main goal of Industry 4.0 is to integrate and collaborate smart machines at all stages of the supply chain to push companies to become more competitive and efficient.

Reinhard Geissbauer, a consultant specialized in the field, explains that Industry 4.0 “will establish your company, your employees, and your entire ecosystem of suppliers, partners, distributors, and customers as a fully interconnected, integrated digital network, linked to other networks around the world.”

How can 3D visualization move your business towards industry 4.0?

1. Increase training efficiency by up to 570% to keep pace with your new machinery

Industry 4.0 is a real challenge for many companies, as it involves both a change in the workplace and a technology upgrade. In fact, to keep up with their industry and globalization, more and more companies are automating their assets and digitizing their processes. This means new machines and processes are introduced and they require a workforce ready to work with this new technology.

Rather than training your workforce the same way as before, make use of 3D visualizations and augmented reality to design insightful and interactive manuals and demonstrations.

According to a study conducted by Precision OS Technology, traditional PDFs and training videos lack trainee engagement and consequently require much more time to assimilate the material. In their study, they found a 570% increase in learning efficiency when using augmented reality and virtual reality compared to traditional methods.

With this said, a true transformation in training and development is now required to compete in this new era of digital transformation.

2. Easily create a new digitized production space much more efficiently

When it comes to the fourth industry, there is a lot of emphasis on implementing sensors in the supply chain and automating the entire process. But, if organizations are rethinking their supply chain, they very often need to completely rethink their floor plan.

Augmented reality gives you the ability to visualize the configuration and location of your new machines, even if you don’t have them yet. . It is now possible to easily draw your new floor plans at scale with just your mobile device. Not sure if your fork lift will have enough space to go around your new machine if you lay it down there? This augmented reality tool ensures that all of your new machinery fits perfectly into a newly digitized production space and makes your planning much easier than ever.

3. Improve compliance and worker safety to increase efficiency in a digitized supply chain

Today, some companies are implementing a fully digital supply network interconnected with big data analytics and smart sensors and some others are slowly but steadily implementing robotization on parts of their supply chain. Of course, regardless of where your company stands, for this enhanced supply chain to generate efficiencies for your business, employees must also be properly aligned.

To increase your employees’ productivity, it is possible to prepare clear, accessible and interactive demonstrations that your employees can follow during the production process. 3D demonstrations can be projected on screens at different stages of production and help guide operators through multi-step procedures. For example, exploded views of a specific part can be displayed on screen to ensure that employees assemble the part correctly instead of relying on paper procedures.

This clear reference tool has the benefit of improving worker compliance and safety, as workers are better aware of what they need to produce at any given time.

4. Better engage customers by effectively promoting your production

As Reinhard Geissbauer explains in “ A strategist’s guide to Industry 4.0,” “Industry 4.0 makes the value chain more responsive, allowing industrial manufacturers to reach end customers more directly and tailor their business models accordingly.”

In fact, as businesses tailor their business model, they need the right selling and marketing strategies to sell their products. 3D visualization and augmented reality tools can give you the edge you need to effectively promote your production.

From a single URL link, buyers can interact with the product to better understand its dimensions, interior facets and configuration, all of which images and video are unable to replicate. It is also clear that there is a real demand for this type of service since, according to a study conducted by Cappasity, 95% of buyers prefer interactive 3D images to videos.

5. Develop a brand image that reflects your company’s innovative vision

It only takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website and know whether they trust your brand or not. That said, even if your company has cutting-edge quality machinery with a powerful system configuration, if your website doesn’t reflect that, you won’t be able to properly thrive in an increasingly digitized sales environment.

According to Gartner, 27% of the average B2B buyer’s time is spent conducting independent research online. This means having a digital platform that differentiates itself from competitors is crucial.

Incorporating animated 3D models and even AR options on your website reveals that your company is at the forefront of the latest technological trends and is certainly capable of designing innovative and professional quality products in the field.

What now?

Companies that are slow to join the bandwagon that is Industry 4.0 will quickly find themselves falling behind, due to the growing differences between their competitive advantages and those of their competitors.

These five powerful ways to use 3D visualizations show customers that your company is on the cutting edge of technology in all aspects of your business, from employee training to sales.

Visao offers a web-based platform that allows manufacturers to use their industrial designs and create interactive visualizations of their products for marketing, sales process, trade shows and production.

Ready to bring your company into Industry 4.0? Request a live demo of Visao’s 3D and augmented reality solutions!