Page 102Page 103
Page 102

Mobility is now at the centre of a highly disruptive technological revolution. The ability to compete today is the domain of those who are capable in the short- and medium-term not just to reinvent their products to address new customer experience paradigms, but also to conceive new ways of producing them. In other words, this revolution encompasses both products and manufacturing processes. Automakers need to innovate in ways that are both revolutionary and sustainable. Being revolutionary means further accelerating the innovation process by opening it up to new contributors and agents of change such as employees, customers and external partners. At the same time, that process must be sustainable, guided by the concept of a circular economy where flexible manufacturing systems allow a more intelligent use of materials and resources that can be tracked and re-used, rather than just consumed.FCA is already creating the right conditions and environment for this new era of innovation, digitalization and automation. The formula for the future is called Industry 4.0 (I4.0), and FCA is already there with its company-specific ‘combination of things’. NEW PLANT LANDSCAPE AND DIGITAL TWINS The ability to deliver innovative, high-quality cars depends on the ability to ‘think premium’ for customers while ‘building premium’ with workers across vehicle segments. Information technology plays a key role in this progressive transformation of work processes by:optimizing collaboration and integration between humans and technology; maximizing the added value we can glean from data and information gathered through the many thousands of actions required to produce a complex product like a car;advancing the adoption of cybersecurity standards for connected systems;accelerating the paradigm shift in terms of worker skills and mindset.FCA has recently implemented a new approach to manufacturing through the redesign of plants as ‘digital factories’ based on the integrated modular factory model. A completely new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, developed with different technological partners, known as the New Plant Landscape (NPL), has already been FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES (FCA)FCA 4.0: OUR WAY TO BE CONNECTED AND PREMIUM“FCA IS ALREADY CREATING THE RIGHT CONDITIONS AND ENVIRONMENT FOR THIS NEW ERA OF INNOVATION, DIGITALIZATION AND AUTOMATION ”Above: Alfa Romeo Giulia. Manufactured at the FCA plant in Cassino (Italy)102 TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY