MANUFACTURING

Industry 4.0 is creating a world of “smart factories” around the globe. Cyber-physical systems are being connected and virtually brought to life through artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing. This shift promises considerable innovation in manufacturing, while improving efficiency and ensuring consistency and quality.

Hand in hand with industry 4.0 is the transformation of the supply chain as we know it. Moving towards a Digital Supply Chain (DSC) will provide improved efficiency and accuracy with reduced costs and increased revenues. The vision of achieving transparency across the entire supply chain is not an easy undertaking and requires significant digital transformation and massive innovation. By way of example – enabling data from smart sensors to be actionable within Transportation Management Systems (TMS) to dynamically and automatically adjust transport schemes based on real time conditions.

These smart factories and digital supply chains are fast becoming a reality, and their ultimate success will require security by design. The increased attack surfaced being introduced through a world of connected devices and a reliance on cloud computing changes the threatscape dramatically. It is critical the industry adapt a security-by-design mindset and focus on developing secure solutions from the start.

Our research focuses on highlighting the need to focus on security-by- design. In 2017, we released numerous reports on the potential risks associated with the exploitation of robotics and industrial collaborative robots, two key components of any industry 4.0 and digital supply chain future.