Evolution of Maintenance Processes in Industry 4.0

Abstract

Several industries are looking for smart methods to increase their production throughput and operational efficiency at the lowest cost, reduced risk, and reduced spending of resources considering demands from stakeholders, governments, and competitors. To achieve this, industries are looking for possible solutions to the above problems by adopting emerging technologies. A foremost concept that is setting the pace and direction for many sectors and services is Industry 4.0. The focus is on augmenting machines and infrastructure with wireless connectivity, sensors, and intelligent systems to monitor, visualize, and communicate incidences between different entities for decision making. An aspect of physical asset management that has been enormously influenced by the new industrial set-up is the maintenance process. This chapter highlights the issues and challenges of Industry 4.0 from maintenance process viewpoint according to EN 60300-3-14. Further, a conceptual model on how maintenance process can be integrated into Industrial 4.0 architecture is proposed to enhance its value.