Using Technology Management to Guide the Journey to Reliability 4.0 in the Manufacturing Industry: A South African Context Using a Case Study of a Food and Beverage Company

An effective asset care strategy is considered a knowledge asset for manufacturing organizations. This knowledge asset can be exploited to achieve the financial and operational goals of an organization by reducing process variability and enabling a synchronous supply chain. Industry 4.0 has caused the technology landscape of asset-intensive organizations to evolve. However, there is a chasm in the body of knowledge that relates asset care systems to Industry 4.0 technologies and the subsequent opportunities to leverage asset reliability results. Reliability 4.0 is the intended output of a Maintenance 4.0 system, i.e., maintenance-related activities derived from applying Industry 4.0 technologies. A systems-thinking approach was applied to analyse the current asset care systems within a prominent food and beverage manufacturing company. The output of this process was a conceptual framework that applies technology management tools to support the development of an asset care strategy. The key characteristics of Industry 4.0, as well as data and process integration, are highlighted. This framework shows how internal and external factors should be considered to create an asset care roadmap to guide an organization's journey to Reliability 4.0.

Keywords: Reliability 4.0, Maintenance 4.0, Asset care strategy, Asset care roadmap, Industry 4.0.