Wednesday, 31st January 2018

Smart approach to building smart factories – step by step

Smart approach to building smart factories – step by step


Digital transformation requires a lot of financial investment, time, and inter- and intradisciplinary, which is why Gorenje Group is addressing it in a very deliberate and gradual manner. 

The purpose of our Digital Business Strategy 2016 – 2020, which includes digital services for different connected communities, connected devices for smart homes and business processes, supported by digital technologies, is:

      - to create added value 
by offering innovative digital business solutions for connected communities of our stakeholders

      - and to improve business efficiency by using digital business solutions. 

It also includes a digital strategy for production and upgrade of the existing elements of smart factories in Gorenje Group production plants.

Industry 4.0 and the concept of smart factories

Industry 4.0 represents the fourth stage of industry (r)evolution, which is based on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and dynamic data processing.

Unlike the previous stages of industry (r)evolution, e.g. the 3rd stage, when electronics and IT were of key importance for further automation of production, Industry 4.0 relies on the connection between physical and digital systems.

In the coming era we will witness an increasing level of communication among machines, computers and sensors, which use and rely on data exchange to autonomously perform work processes. The more advanced such communication and operations become, the less need there will be for human (manual) labour. Consequently, there will be less chances for human errors, and production will become more efficient and productive, as well as more effective in terms of costs, time and materials.

The key idea of Industry 4.0: integrated, automated and optimised production flow.

Main goals of robotization and automation:

      - to increase production efficiency

      - create and increase added value 

In Gorenje Group’s production plants, we are already using several individual elements of the so-called smart factories. Our goal is to make our factories even smarter and better equipped for the future, so we already mapped the next steps necessary to upgrade the existing elements and connect them into a smart whole, a smart factory.