Uruguay and CIU
Industria 4.0: Digital transformation plans
What is South-South and Triangular Cooperation?
Carring the industry of Uruguay to another level
What is CIU?
Why was the Industria 4.0 project launched?
Industria 4.0 was launched in July 2019 to support the development of innovations and to assist the manufacturing sector to incorporate these new technologies.
In its current version, Industria 4.0 helps companies to make an assessment of their current state of digital readiness and helps them prepare a digital transformation plan (DTP), and assist them through digital transformation journey.
“At CIU we try to generate new business opportunities. This leads to the development of products and services that respond to our members’ future abilities and needs”.
Steps to be followed by interested companies
- 1. On-line application
- 2. Initial contact / assignation of a pair of experts
- 3. Training in the methodology of the PTD and Industria 4.0
- 4. Facility visit
- 5. Iterative development
- 6. Reports and closing meeting
Applications are welcome through the Impulsa Industria project. Interested companies complete an on-line form that provides Industria 4.0 with information on the level of digital technology and infrastructure used in their processes.
To date it has not been necessary to reject any applicants as CIU has designed a methodology that is appropriate to the reality of manufacturing industry in Uruguay.
Pasos que deben seguir las empresas interesadas
Para desarrollar estos productos y acompañamiento, las empresas interesadas deben seguir las siguientes etapas de trabajo:
- 1. Postulación en línea
- 2. Contacto inicial / asignación dupla de expertos
- 3. Capacitación en la metodología del PTD y la Industria 4.0
- 4. Visita a planta industrial
- 5. Desarrollo iterativo
- 6. Informes y reunión de cierre
Se realizan convocatorias abiertas a través del proyecto Impulsa Industria. Las empresas interesadas completan un formulario en línea que sirve para informar el grado existente de avances tecnológicos, digitales, y de infraestructura en sus procesos hacia la Industria 4.0.
Hasta la fecha no ha habido necesidad de excluir empresas aplicantes ya que la CIU ha diseñado una metodología adecuada a la realidad de las industrias del Uruguay.
Luego de recibida la información se evalúa la misma y la CIU asigna una dupla de expertos acorde a las capacidades y necesidades iniciales identificadas de la empresa. Estos expertos contactan a la empresa para una presentación inicial y verificar la información del formulario. Estos expertos serán los que acompañarán a la empresa en la elaboración de su PTD.
Durante un cumulativo de ocho horas distribuidas en dos días, la empresa se forma en los conceptos de Industria 4.0 y trabaja de la mano con sus expertos en analizar su entorno, flujos de información, modelos de negocio, propuestas de valor, y procesos productivos. Cabe destacar que la capacitación inicial es grupal y participan los equipos asignados por cada empresa. El formato es virtual o en persona, dependiendo de la localización de las empresas.
Los expertos asignados visitan la planta industrial de la empresa para indagar y profundizar sobre sus procesos y potencial de digitalización, así como para concretizar la información ya proporcionada.
Se continúa el diálogo y el trabajo conjunto para desarrollar el PTD (reuniones virtuales/telefónicas/en persona).
La empresa es otorgada un Informe Diagnóstico 4.0 sobre su estado de digitalización, y su Plan de Transformación Digital, que servirá como una hoja de ruta con recomendaciones puntuales en su proceso de transformación. Estos productos son acompañados de una presentación en vivo por los expertos dónde se resaltan los principales hallazgos y recomendaciones.
Claves del servicio Industria 4.0
This service aims to help enterprises get closer to the technological frontiers of their industry branch and not only to digitalise their processes. This is why the terms "digital transformation" and Industria 4.0 are used.
The service also includes Themed Workshops on Industria 4.0. Industria 4.0 service also provides connections between manufacturing companies and suppliers of technological services, in a virtual space, which is open-access and free of charge, called Plataforma Industrial, the first virtual market for industry in the country.
The process lasts 12 weeks. On completion of the service, companies can choose to continue working at their own expense with the expert advisors or with technology suppliers. Furthermore, through its other support services Impulsa Industria guides companies towards public financing options, links with other actors in the industrial ecosystem (several of which are already on the Plataforma Industrial) or other services provided by CIU. As far as technology suppliers are concerned, CIU encourages companies to connect with them using the Plataforma Industrial.
The service is continually evolving. At present CIU is in the process of implementing a digital platform for optimising the production of PTDs, adapting the service to micro-manufacturers and incorporating components of a circular economy.
“It is not a question of merely designing a website or digitising information, it is a more complex service that seeks to support companies in applying technology to their industrial processes, with everything that this entails”.
Industria 4.0 in figures
How was Industry 4.0 born?
Training and methodology
5 strategic axes of Industria 4.0
1. Strategy
Activities such as benchmarking, business the model, value proposals, and analysis of the business environment [S.E.].
2. Business organisation
3. Products
4. Organisation of production processes
By means of industrial plant analysis and process diagramming [T.E.]
5. Infrastructure
Including advice on information security and data management [T.E.]
- Systematise information and standardise quality criteria.
- Establish timetables for the work and define a route for implementation.
- Identify repeated problems in each axis and to solve them.
- Define a training scheme for potential expert advisors and allied institutions that contributes to project sustainability.
Industria 4.0 over time
⇒Swipe to see more
How was Industria 4.0 financed?
The service exists thanks to the time and dedication contributed by CIU personnel and its different allies, who have helped to develop and implement it. The project is mainly carried forward with the support of two individuals from CIU’s staff. CIU estimates that the fees of the expert advisors assigned to participating companies amount to USD 40,000 per year, an average cost of USD 2,000 per company/PTD. Development of the methodology jointly with INTI and training for the expert advisors required an investment of 30,000 dollars.
The cooperation with others institutions has been vital in providing the service and implementation of PTDs by the companies. A total of 28 institutions were involved with the Industria 4.0 activities, especially the Centro de Automatización Industrial y Mecatrónica (CAIME), who provided experts for the PTDs, and Universidad Tecnológica (UTEC) for training in the different technologies for Industria 4.0. When the time came to implement their PTDs, several companies received financial support from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) and the National Development Agency (ANDE).
Furthermore, the Industria 4.0 service received financial support from INEFOP. At present the service is completely free of charge for participants. CIU has also obtained funds from AL-Invest Verde, some of which are being used to adapt components of the Industria 4.0 service to the circular economy.
CIU believes it is very important for the service to seek changes and new frontiers for the country’s manufacturing industry; the aim is not to make the service profitable, rather it is to support national development by building new institutional and business capabilities and to provide added value to its members.
Lessons to share
- Seeking new frontiers – Industria 4.0 was created to bring new technologies and ways of working to the manufacturing sector in which niche companies are not receiving training. For CIU one of the added values that may be offered by an EBMO is recognising new potential markets and preparing its members to take advantage of them.
- In-house first – in other words develop the internal abilities of the EBMO to design and implement novel business development services, including development of the themes to be addressed and creation of procedures and manuals for coordinating with institutions and experts in different fields of knowledge.
- Network connections – with the academic world, the public sector, other countries.
- Methodology and rigour – adapted to the context of the country and the service, with emphasis on evaluation and monitoring of the results.
- Publication of successful cases – seeking to maximise the demonstration effect with testimonials from companies that have benefited from the service.
Testimonial of Carola Saavedra
Carola Saavedra, Director of communication and projects, tells us about the new service called Plan de Transformación Digital and the benefit for small and medium-sized companies.