Defense 4.0

axiscades

The defense industry primarily uses Industry 4.0 technology to come up with products and services that are cost-effective. The 4.0 technology has been assisting the sector in making the existing products smarter with connectivity and sensors and also make optimum use of advanced manufacturing. Defense 4.0 may seem to be daunting in the defense ecosystem and due to a lack of manpower and monetary resources. Let’s look at areas and actions that can be taken by the extended defense ecosystem and manufacturers to deliver Defense 4.0 strategy.

1. Connectivity:

Digital thread helps with a connected flow of data and provides an integrated view of an asset through functional perspectives and several factory walls. A digital thread can increase the supply chain efficiency by about 16% and also reduced the product to market time.

Manufacturers can increase the revenue by extending the asset management to supply and also service the customer assets. Defense manufacturers must rely on enterprise software to provide a good level of connectivity.

Business models that are servitization-based are now becoming common among the defense manufacturers and this exudes direct customer connectivity requirements. Main aspects of this approach are IoT, in-house customer relationship management, customer systems, and third-party contractor’s connectivity.


2. Configurability:

Manufactured assets are meant to perform specific roles in the military projects and they expect customization and a precise schedule of delivery. The main differentiator for defense manufacturers is that they have quite a big scope of project capabilities, ability to perform on multiple projects that have their own capabilities.

Complex defense assets should have a broad functional capability in enterprise software and should include efficient manufacturing abilities and financial controls. Once the defense manufacturers have necessary functions, they must keep in mind that it must be deployed modularly and has to be configured to adapt to the unique requirements. Manufacturers can also introduce Industry 4.0 processes into the factory-like additive manufacturing machines complying with the requirements for quality control and monitoring.


3. Intelligence:

Defense products generate a huge amount of data sometimes amounting up to 4 million data points. Defense companies must equip themselves to make use of this data for processes like designing phase, manufacturing phase, and operations. They can also leverage this information to make new and smarter models.

As intelligent technology starts growing in the defense manufacturing sector, supporting software must also try to keep up the pace. Following an inflexible system will hinder the growth of manufacturers from capitalizing on new technologies.

By adopting open integration standards, the manufacturers should lock in on a compatible evergreen software.


4. Security:

Enterprise software should be designed with security in mind considering the highly sensitive nature of the information. They must mitigate the threats and risks occurring throughout the software development lifecycle. Keeping this in mind, the US Department of Defense (DOD) has come up with plans for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, a set of cybersecurity standards for the contractors. This is likely to come in place by January 2020.

According to the certification, the companies supplying products or services to the DOD must comply with the 110 security standards specified in it or risk losing their contract. Some of the other countries that have adopted this are the UK; Defense Information Strategy (DIS) and next being Australia; Information Security Manual (ISM).

In the world of Industry 4.0, defense manufacturers can face a crucial decision that is directly connected to business success and also reap potential benefits which include increased profits, efficiency, security and satisfaction. Nonetheless, these attributes cannot be gained without the aid of a software facilitator that assists the defense manufacturers to build and execute a defense 4.0 strategy.

AXISCADES is recognized as the preferred partner to the global defense industry, addressing the strategic needs across air, ground and marine systems. Engineers designing Defense solutions face ever- increasing challenges of implementing complex systems while ensuring stringent product quality, security standards, and certification criteria.


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