NDE 4.0—NDE for the 21st Century—The Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems will Revolutionize NDE

Challenges and opportunities for NDE within the new ecosystem of cyber physical systems for production, the internet of things and management of Big Data will be discussed. New production techniques, for example 3D printing will allow efficient in-time production of low numbers of unique parts customized for the need of any purchaser. Aspects of NDE reliability and the effect of the human factor has to be reconsidered. New hand-held devices based on tablet computers will be applied to make NDE available and affordable for anybody. As a benefit, product inspection at home can become an additional component of monitoring the life cycle of a product. This might significantly increase the acceptance of NDE by solving new inspection problems for all day service. NDE will revolutionize to NDE 4.0 for Industry 4.