This year we have often heard about Industry 4.0 and funding for Industry 4.0.
The opportunity for small and medium sizes companies is not clear for everyone, even in our territory; for this reason we want to make a journey with you that will take us through different stages to understand this topic.
Every month we will publish an episode of our Rubric 4.0 in which we will touch on this subject; we will start with the basics all the way to concrete cases of application or non-application.
In this first news we will deal with the Five Ws to understand better what we are talking about.
What Industry 4.0?
Industry 4.0 or IoT or 4th manufacturing revolution, identifies the application of technology to the company production process.
IoT technology is already present in our home and often, we are not even aware of it. An example among all is that of cars where the mechanical component is increasingly integrated to the digital one. We think about the car that detects obstacles, that brakes itself in case of collision risk, that detects driving fatigue and that is equipped with all kinds of sensors and cameras.
In household we find Domotics. It is possible to integrate our home appliances like the oven, the burglar alarm or the heating with the sensors and connect them to a single platform in the network. The advantage is that we can control these systems remotely, so when we get home from work we can find the house already hot and the oven ready to prepare dinner.
On an industrial level we talk about Industry 4.0. Existing systems can be equipped with sensors and information technology, but we can go further. Machine have been designed with IoT Technology capable of detecting the production rate, signaling a fault or alerting the need of maintenance. Integrating several machines of this kind on a single platform, it is possible to have in real-time information about the production process of the entire plant as well as of the single machine. An even wider integration between plants located in different points of the globe, allows us to analyze data even if we are on the other side of the world.
Who involves Industry 4.0?
All the small or big companies that want seize the opportunity related to the 4th Industrial Revolution. It is aimed at all those companies that decide to invest in new capital goods and in tangible and intangible assets such as software and IT systems which allow the technological and digital transformation of production processes.
Whoever adopts the policy of 4.0 will be able to take advantage of some loans and facilities.
Where, or better, how we can benefit of these loans?
Through the 4.0 Industry Plan that favors investments for innovation and competitiveness.
Why should you use this plane?
For a company not to innovate itself means losing the competitiveness not only on the national market but above all towards foreign companies which already make use of more favorable conditions in their countries. Foreign companies are a step ahead of us thanks to the investments in the capital goods, which have led to a modernization of the design, production and control processes.
When can we benefit from the incentives?
Already in the course of this year with the Stability Law of 2017. It is currently expected that the super amortization to 140% for the purchase of machinery and the over-amortization to 250% will be active until 31/12/2017 with a delivery of the goods until 31/12/2018. With the proposal of the new budget law it is expected to confirm the hyper-depreciation at 250% while the super-amortization is expected to decrease from 140% to 130%. It has also added a 50% tax credit for digital training expenses.