I went to look at the questions at lunchtime but was blooked by our cybersecurity. I might try from home over the weekend. 

I see a lot of digitalisation and industry 4.0 spoken about, but it seems a long way from actually making real things out of metal and plastic (in my case wire and cable).

I went to look at the questions at lunchtime but was blooked by our cybersecurity. I might try from home over the weekend. 

I see a lot of digitalisation and industry 4.0 spoken about, but it seems a long way from actually making real things out of metal and plastic (in my case wire and cable).

I am not sure I am happy that the questionnaire was Google based. I assume that is why it was blocked at work.

I attempted to answer the questions but they were not really relevant to an industry where nearly all set ups are manual. I am not aware of any attempts to thread up and start a wire extrusion line automatically. The recipes are downloaded from a central database and production data is recorded and stored. Various parameters are automatically controlled and measured.

We have tried using Google Glasses for remote support and trouble shooting but the information is often too limited. Smell can be important. There is a big difference between overheated PVC and overheated Phenolic Resins. Feel/vibration is also important.

We are also looking at models of the plastic extrusion process, but they still seem a long way from reality.