In today's highly competitive scenario, manufacturers are looking for greater efficiencies and cost savings in the business applications and processes, using new technologies.

Since, the time of renaissance, there have been significant inventions and discoveries that have changed the face of manufacturing processes and greatly impacted the efficiency and productivity.

The industry has seen the metamorphoses from the usage of water and steam to electricity to the currently used electronic gadgets and integrated IT systems that are driving the automation at a jet speed in the industries reducing the need of human oversight.

Today we are at the dawn of a new era "Industry 4.0", an era where sensor technology and the interconnectivity of the machines - the Internet of Things - is driving the industry forward.

While manufacturers are in agreement that Industry 4.0 will bring several benefits, the major challenge would be data handling and management. It is something that the manufacturing community has never dealt with before and there will be a variety of data in huge volumes that would be generated by the numerous sensors fitted at various points on a production line.

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