Laboratories and Industry 4.0: hand in hand

Industry 4.0 is a major revolution in production processes driven by new ways of using computers. Are we also waiting for a revolution in the laboratories?

Rik Pepermans, who worked at Unilever for many years, thinks so. “It's what I call Innovation 4.0+, a kind of Industry 4.0 for the laboratory, but one step further.” Pepermans tells you what it is, and how your lab is already cleverly responding to it. 

Innovation 4.0+
Industry 4.0 means that the physical world of production processes has a digital counterpart and is seamlessly connected to it. This revolution, which is already in full swing, is working towards a self-managing production process. One where machines and systems communicate directly with each other. 

“If we apply this to innovation processes in a laboratory, we will soon see that measurements in the physical lab appear in the final reports without the intervention of laboratory technicians. Simulations are automatically performed as a check in the digital image of the lab. Sometimes measurements are even replaced by simulations, the so-called 'plus', in Innovation 4.0+. This results in faster and less error-free work processes.” 

Nowadays
This sounds like great news for the future, but you know better than anyone that you cannot simply write off a running laboratory and build a new one from scratch. The innovation process is a major investment and is continuously evolving. “That is why I recommend taking stock. Where is the lab now? Which systems are running? And more importantly: which systems will soon need to be replaced based on depreciation and lifespan?”

According to Pepermans, laboratories must take small steps. “System by system. Work process by work process. And those who start now will be ahead of the rest, and will benefit more and more from the early start over time. Not only with fast and careful work processes, but also with relieving the burden on lab employees. If you take routine measurements away from them, there is time left for innovations, quality improvements and updating the current simulation models.”

Tips about the observation period? View Marcel Braam's vision here

LIMS
Innovation 4.0+ feels like a distant show to many. “But there are already quite a few techniques on the market. Even a LIMS, on the market since the 1980s, contributes to this digitalization drive. It is then important to look at how more recent systems can facilitate and even take over even more work.”

LabAutomation 2020
Rik Pepermans worked at Unilever on the border between research and IT, in particular on digitizing the innovation process. Computers are increasingly taking over routine work tasks from humans. He will tell you at LabAutomation 2020 what this means for current tasks from lab employees and department heads to directors. 

Visit Rik Pepermans' inspiring lecture during LabAutomation 2020. sign up