NDEOUTLOOK | SCANNER FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY The concept and implications of NDE 4.0 have been discussed for a couple of years. The importance and relevance of this topic is reflected in industry media and conference programs throughout the world, along with the publication of the first handbook on NDE 4.01 as well as countless papers. There is a plethora of available resources for practitioners to get started. These activities also have led toward industry workgroups and commit- tees tasked with developing the required standards, data structures, and guide- lines, which will enable the next level of implementation across the industry. This can be seen as building the foundations. For many practitioners, all these academic activities might seem far away and practical implications can be hazy. It is said we humans overestimate short-term impact and underestimate long-term impact. This is also the case for the adoption of NDE 4.0. It requires significant changes in technologies, processes, and—most importantly— mindset to implement aspects of NDE 4.0 into production environments. If done right, it can unleash significant competitive advantages for those imple- menting it, while it can result in fatal consequences for those left behind. Many people are familiar with Moore’s law, which states that computing power is doubling regularly2. This law has been proven empirically and is also true for general technology development, inno- vation, and even content generation. The reason is that each technology development is building on the previous round of innovation. Such exponential processes can be treacherous and hard for our brains to grasp. We tend to underestimate the impact of exponential processes until they hit the tipping point, triggering rapid acceleration and irre- versible growth. Those companies that reach this tipping point will be propelled forward, where gains and improvements fuel further innovations that quickly compound on one another. Those left behind struggle to work through the slow-growth early phase of the expo- nential curve, seeing the gap between them and their peers widening rapidly. We all have seen many demonstra- tions of these forces at work. The business-to-consumer (B2C) markets are full of them. You can look at Google, Amazon, and Apple (among others), who have employed new technologies and even business models to transform their industries. The underlying technology drivers are, in many cases, cloud connec- tivity, artificial intelligence (AI), digitaliza- tion, automation, and big data. These are exactly the technologies that make up the technology plethora of NDE 4.0. Right now, we are at the brink of massive adoption of these technologies in business-to-business (B2B) markets and especially the manu- facturing industry. These transformations will lead to similar reorganization in our industrial landscape as we have seen in the consumer world. Therefore, this devel- opment is called the fourth industrial revo- lution. As we know from history, there are winners and losers of revolutions, but one thing is for sure—the world will look signifi- cantly different afterward. As a provider for digitalization and automation equipment, we have seen a surge of inquiries for solutions that are concerned with technologies covered by NDE 4.0. This proves that the next phase is already underway, and we are seeing accelerated adoption throughout the industry. Now that the first wave of digi- tization (meaning moving from analog film to digital X-ray detectors) has been completed in many cases, companies are implementing further automation and process digitalization to leverage the possibilities of these digital tools. Implementation of simple automation and digitalization is already resulting in significant efficiency gains. According to Jan Danielson from Kongsberg Aerospace & Defense, it led to a “90% reduction of working hours”3 for his organization. This frees up capital and capacity that can be allocated to the next innovation cycle, which will in turn also lead to further savings and effi- ciency gains. This could, for example, be the implementation of AI to automat- ically evaluate and interpret images. It has been shown that this could lead to further efficiency gains of roughly 60%4, but it wouldn’t be possible without auto- mating the acquisition process. This is what is called a technology-induced positive feedback loop, which will ensure a long-lasting competitive advantage. In times of rising throughput requirements, A P R I L 2 0 2 2 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 15

SCANNER | NEWMEDIA cost pressures from low-cost countries, and a skills shortage, organizations in high-wage countries and high-tech sectors like aerospace will have to trans- form their operations through technology to stay relevant in a globalized world. This leads us to the question: Where do we currently stand in terms of this transformation? We are rapidly approaching the tipping point. With many of the standard-setting activities well underway and a broad adoption of the new technologies by solution providers, we have all the tools needed to innovate our inspection processes. To succeed, we must have a curious mindset and embrace the new technology as a tool and friend in the upcoming indus- trial revolution. It is our duty to explore these new technologies early on and assess their viability for our organizations. Internal know-how can be built through training sessions, conference participa- tion, engagement with solution providers, and small pilot projects. NDE 4.0 comes with a new vocabulary and tools that are significantly different from those we are used to today. But the skills and experi- ences of qualified inspectors will not be replaced through this technology—they will be complemented. Venturing a glimpse into the future, we estimate that in five years we will see a high degree of automation and implementation of robotics in many industries. AI will be a broadly used tool that assists inspectors to make consis- tent decisions and reduce repetitive tasks. Global organizations will have connected their inspection systems through cloud connectivity, and inspec- tion results will be archived online, accessible for all approved stakeholders. Advanced inspection technologies like computed tomography will be broadly used to generate insights into parts and to generate digital twins. Predictive maintenance algorithms will be used to minimize unscheduled equipment down- time. The jobs of NDT technicians and managers will look significantly different and will require additional skill sets. These changes are coming, whether we like it or not. There is still time to prepare for the coming change and to embrace the possibilities of the tools that it brings along. It all comes down to a choice of whether we want to be in the driver’s seat or whether we will be surprised and therefore disrupted by it. AUTHOR Lennart Schulenburg: VisiConsult X-ray Systems & Solutions GmbH, Stockelsdorf, Germany l.schulenburg@visiconsult.de 1 Handbook of Nondestructive Evaluation 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48200-8 2 “Technology Feels Like It’s Accelerating – Because It Actually Is,” https://singularityhub. com/2016/03/22/technology-feels-like-its- accelerating-because-it-actually-is 3 “Kongsberg Reduces X-ray Inspection Time by 90%,” https://visiconsult.de/kongsberg-reduces -inspection-time 4 “Aviation Supplier PFW Talks about AI in Industrial X-ray Testing,” https://visiconsult.de/ interview-pfw-en NDE 4.0 HANDBOOK Springer has published the Handbook of Nondestructive Evaluation 4.0 edited by Norbert Meyendorf, Nathan Ida, Ripudaman Singh, and Johannes Vrana. This handbook comprehensively covers the cutting-edge trends and techniques essential for the integration of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) into the changing face of the modern industrial landscape. In particular, it delves into the marriage of NDE with new techniques in areas such as data mining, cloud computing, and auton- omous operation, highlighting the potential for cyber-physical controlled production and discussing the myriad of possible applications across many different industries. The material in this handbook is presented with the intention of ultimately improving human safety through reli- able inspections and dependable main- tenance of critical infrastructure, while also enhancing business value through reduced downtime, affordable mainte- nance, and talent optimization. LINK.SPRINGER.COM NDE OUTLOOK FROM P. 15 | HIGHLIGHT LIQUID PENETRANT TESTING BOOK ASNT’s Principles & Applications of Liquid Penetrant Testing is now available as an ebook. Packed with new photographs, updated standards, practices, and references, this revised edition of the popular reference for liquid penetrant testing (PT) was created as a classroom training book or for the working technician to use every day. This book was originally written by Bernie Boisvert in 1993 and was updated by Charles W. Eick in 2020. Eick is the owner of Royal Blue NDT Services, holds Level III certifica- tion in five methods including PT, and is an active member of several ASNT committees. Principles & Applications of Liquid Penetrant Testing brings PT practice into the 21st century. This book is recommended for every level of PT certification. It is also an excellent book for Level IIs studying for Level III certification. ASNT.ORG 16 M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • A P R I L 2 0 2 2