In many industries such as food, drugs and medical devices, recalls largely come down to human error in labeling and coding. Adding coding and labeling to the automation process can reduce the risk of this even though adding this step into existing production lines and industrial networks is considered complex and expensive.

Terms like ‘factories of the future’, ‘industry 4.0’ and ‘industrial internet of things’ are part of common vocabulary. So much so that people not working in the sector presume robots and AI are running factories. Those of us in the game know the hype does not match the reality. Machines are costly in the extreme and no one is going to throw out a 20-year-old robotic arm for a shiny new one that comes with a $250,000 price tag.

Since the automation process began there has been the cry that machines will replace people on the factory floor, but what’s the reality of this? Warehouse robots are getting more sophisticated certainly, but they’re not capable of fixing themselves yet so there is still work for people on the shop floor.

Nearly half of manufacturers have been the victim of cyber crime with the sector now the third most targeted for attack according to a new report EEF and AIG, and carried out by The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests.

A new report by the multinational professional service network, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has identified three waves in which automation will grow in the coming years. The waves are; the algorithm wave; the augmentation wave, and autonomy wave.

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) technology offers benefits in production-line tracking and remote worksite management, but the difficulty in developing IIoT security standards could wreak havoc, the likes of which we have never seen.