How to improve quality of end-product by using data

Offering services rather than just products can create more opportunities to interact with customers and a partnership is more likely to arise. In a competitive landscape, customizing a product is a way to create a unique selling point for a company. In Industry 4.0 where mass production gives way to mass customization, products have, to a greater extent, unique characteristics defined by the end-customer. The physical flows will be continuously mapped on digital platforms. All data gathered from a Cyber-Physical System will provide an opportunity to analyse, refine and generate recommendations on how to improve the production and increase the quality of the end-product or service. The gathered data, connectivity and mobile devices combined give the possibility to build intuitive mobile applications. Downloading and later using an app specifically built to operate one specific device will become a reality. The same combination of mobile devices, increased reliability and inexpensive positioning systems will allow representation of real time positioning in 3D maps. This, in turn, opens the door to augmented or mixed reality scenarios. These are expected to bring tangible gains in areas such as identification and localisation of materials or in maintenance-related activities.