The March 2020 edition of Electricity + Control features Control Systems + Automation; Drives, Motors + Switchgear; Measurement + Instrumentation; and Transformers, Substations + Cables – all critical elements in industry today and all essential in bringing together the energy + information that drives industrial production.

Industry 4.0 + IIoT

4IR is a term often loosely used to encompass seemingly all new technologies, in every application, despite its origins as Industrie 4.0. The programme was developed in Germany in 2011/12 to address Germany’s concerns around its declining population, with not enough young people to take up the roles of the country’s highly qualified but aging manufacturing workforce, and to ensure its competitive manufacturing position into the future. Yanesh Naidoo, Sales and Design Director at Jendamark Automation, makes the point that South Africa, Africa, and most of the developing world face quite the opposite population picture and quite different challenges. He cautions against an attempted ‘copy and paste’ of the 4IR model from the developed world to Africa, and says, “We should, instead, be using new technologies to address our own problems and create African solutions.” These in turn could be exportable. Naidoo highlights some examples of where and how this is already happening.

We start this new year with a fresh new look Electricity + Control and a streamlined schedule of features for the year ahead – one that we believe responds to your needs and interests as readers and advertisers. For more information on the line-up for the year, please see our Profile.

The next step in automation is introducing plug and produce modules which offer manufacturers a more agile option in automating processes to meet the demand for shorter production runs and smaller batch sizes – down to batch size one. In this issue of Electricity + Control, Gero Lustig of ABB Industrial Automation explains the concept of modular automation, how it works and its application in, for example, the fine chemicals, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and textile industries.

Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things continue to impact all industrial sectors. The mining industry in South Africa has been a relatively slow adopter of new digital technologies and in this regard has been surpassed by other industries. Dassault Systèmes, at its 5th annual Natural Resources Forum in Johannesburg, highlighted that the mining industry now has the opportunity to select what is best for it in terms of digital innovation. The company notes a mindshift in the sector, with companies such as Debswana and De Beers embracing the advantages that digitalisation offers.