What Is Industry 4.0? Why Industry 4.0 Is Important For The Industry?

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July 8, 2021
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What is Industry 4.0?

Digital transformation of manufacturing and similar industries and value-creation processes is referred to as Industry 4.0. It is synonymous with the fourth industrial revolution and denotes a shift in the manufacturing industry’s organization and control.

Remote monitoring and tracking are both possible with the Industrial Internet of Things. “A word for the current trend in data interchange and automation in the industrial industry,” according to the definition of Industry 4.0.

Manufacturing has seen a significant transition as a result of digitization. The fourth industrial revolution has been named “Industry 4.0.”

Industry 4.0 is a concept that has grown from a German manufacturing industry effort to a worldwide recognized term. To grasp Industry 4.0, it’s necessary to look at the entire value chain, which includes suppliers and the origins of the materials and components required for various forms of smart manufacturing. We need to also look at the end-to-end digital supply chain and the ultimate destination of all manufacturing, regardless of the number of intermediary steps and players: the end customer or the user.

History of Industrial Revolution

First Industrial Revolution

The use of steam and water power marked the move from hand to machine production during the First Industrial Revolution. Because it took a long time for new technology to be implemented, this refers to the period between 1760 and 1820, or 1840. Its effects were felt in the textile sector, which was the first to embrace such reforms. Alongside it impacted the iron industry, agriculture, mining, and societal repercussions such as a growing middle class.

Second Industrial Revolution

The development of railroads and telegraphs, which permitted speedier means of transferring people and ideas, as well as electricity, drove the second industrial revolution, which took place between 1871 and 1914 and is also known as the Technological Revolutions.

Third Industrial Revolution

After the end of the two world wars, the Third Industrial Revolution, also known as the Digital Revolution, occurred in the late twentieth century, resulting from a slowdown in industrialization and technical advancement compared to prior periods. The production of the Z1 computer, using binary floating-point numbers and Boolean logic, began with further digital developments ten years later. Supercomputer with extensive use of computer and communication technology in the production process was the next important development in the communication technologies. Extensive use of machinery began putting pressure on companies to reduce their requirements of human power.

When computer was first introduced to the industry during Industry 3.0 revolution, it was completely disruptive. I recall certain instances wherein people with the traditional mindset working with pen and paper, making an entry in the register would resist working on the computer. Rather than taking this as an opportunity, many took this as a threat. Presently, and into the future as Industry 4.0 unfurls, computers are associated and speak with each other to eventually settle on choices without human inclusion.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

The digital transformation of manufacturing/production and allied industries and value creation processes is known as Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is a new stage in the structure and control of the industrial value chain that is used interchangeably with the fourth industrial revolution.

Origin of the term Industry 4.0

The popular term Industry 4.0, also known as I4.0 or I4 in some cases, was first used in 2011as part of the German government’s effort to encourage the computerization of manufacturing processes. During the same year, the name and concept were made public during the Hannover exposition.

Data models and data-mapping are used to develop Industry 4.0 across the entire end-to-end product life cycle and value stream. All of the technologies in Industry 4.0 must be viewed in this light, with integration being the most important factor.

08 Major Technologies of Industry 4.0

1. Additive Manufacturing:

Additive Manufacturing is a term that refers to the process of making something not by removing material as done in traditional types of manufacturing processes like milling, drilling, boring, etc, rather by adding material as needed. 3D printing is the most well-known example of additive manufacturing. Companies can now build small batches of bespoke products instead of prototyping individual components. The advantages include the ability to quickly manufacture complicated, lightweight designs.

2. Autonomous robots :

Autonomous robots can communicate with one another and work alongside people in a safe environment. These robots will be less expensive and have a wider range of capabilities as time goes on. An autonomous robot, also known as an autorobot or autobot, is a robot that has a high degree of autonomy in its behavior or activities without having any external influence.

3. Big data analytics :

Big data analytics is the process of analyzing massive amounts of data to find hidden patterns, correlations, and other insights. With today’s technology, you can analyze your data and get answers practically instantly, but more traditional business intelligence solutions are slower and less efficient.

4. Augmented Reality :

Augmented Reality is a term that refers to the use of technology. This system can help with several tasks, including picking parts in a warehouse and transmitting maintenance instructions to mobile devices. Companies can use this system to present workers with real-time information that helps them make better decisions and operate more efficiently.

5. The Cloud :

The more production-related projects a company takes on, the more data must be shared between locations. Meanwhile, cloud computing is becoming quicker and more powerful. Machine data and analytics will increasingly be deployed to the cloud, allowing for more data-driven services for production systems.

6. The Industrial Internet of Things :

Consumer items, durable goods, automobiles and trucks, industrial and utility components, sensors, and other ordinary objects are being integrated with Internet connectivity and powerful data analysis capabilities to alter the way we work, live, and play. The impact of IoT on the Internet and economy has been estimated to be as high as 100 billion linked IoT devices and a global economic impact of more than $11 trillion by 2025, according to some estimates.

7. Cybersecurity :

It’s no surprise that Industry 4.0 encourages more connectivity and the adoption of industry-standard communications protocols. As a result, the demand for important industrial systems and manufacturing lines to be protected against cybersecurity threats has increased considerably. As a result, secure, dependable communications, as well as sophisticated machine access management and user identity verification, are critical.

8. Horizontal and Vertical System Integration :

Companies, divisions, operations, and capacities can all benefit from Industry 4.0. The evolution of cross-company, universal data-integration networks has enabled totally automated value chains.

The impact on business

Many sectors are experiencing the introduction of new technologies that generate whole new ways of meeting current demands and dramatically disrupt established industrial value chains on the supply side. Agile, innovative competitors can displace well-established incumbents faster than ever before by enhancing the quality, speed, or price at which value is given, thanks to access to global digital platforms for research, development, marketing, sales, and distribution.

Growing transparency, customer participation, and new patterns of consumer activity (increasingly dependent on access to mobile networks and data) are forcing organizations to adjust how they design, advertise, and provide products and services on the demand side.

A key trend is the development of technology-enabled platforms that combine both demand and supply to disrupt existing industry structures, such as those we see within the “sharing” or “on-demand” economy. rendered easy to use by the smartphone, convene people, assets, and data—thus creating entirely new ways of consuming goods and services in the process. In addition, they lower the barriers for businesses and individuals to create wealth, altering workers’ personal and professional environments. These new platform businesses are rapidly multiplying into many new services, ranging from laundry to shopping, from chores to parking, from massages to travel.

Overall, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the following four major implications on business:

On customer expectations,
On product enhancement,
On collaborative innovation, and
On organizational forms.

Customers are increasingly at the center of the economy, whether they are consumers or enterprises, and it is all about improving how customers are served. Furthermore, digital capabilities can now be added to physical items and services, increasing their value. Assets are becoming more durable and resilient as a result of new technology, while data and analytics are changing how they are managed. In the meanwhile, a world of customer experiences, data-driven services, and asset performance via analytics necessitate new forms of collaboration, especially given the rate at which innovation and disruption occur. Finally, the advent of global platforms and other new business models necessitates a rethinking of people, culture, and organizational forms.

The impact on people

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will alter not only what we do, but who we are as well. Our feeling of privacy, our concepts of ownership, our purchasing patterns, the time we give to work and leisure, and how we grow our jobs, cultivate our abilities, meet people, and nurture relationships will all be affected by it. It is already affecting our health and contributing to a “quantified” self, and it may lead to human growth sooner than we believe. The list goes on and on since we are only limited by our imagination.

I am a big fan of technology and an early adopter, but I’m starting to wonder if the inevitable integration of technology into our lives is eroding some of our most basic human abilities, including compassion and cooperation. A good example is our relationship with our smartphones. Constant connectivity may deprive us of one of life’s most valuable assets: the opportunity to pause, ponder and converse meaningfully.

Privacy is one of the most significant individual challenges offered by modern information technology. We intuitively understand why it is so important, yet recording and sharing information about ourselves is a critical component of the new connection. In the coming years, debates regarding fundamental concerns such as the impact on our inner lives of losing control over our data will only grow. Similarly, the biotech and AI revolutions are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back the present limitations of life span, health, intellect, and capacities, forcing us to reconsider our moral and ethical boundaries.

Conclusion:

Industry 4.0 refers to the collection, use, and analysis of actionable data and information as a means of realizing smart industries and ecosystems of industrial innovation and cooperation in a linked world of big data, people, processes, services, systems, and IoT-enabled industrial assets. Industry 4.0 and the smart factory concept are becoming a reality thanks to a combination of cyber-physical systems, machine learning, and the Internet of Things. Factories would become more efficient and waste would be reduced with the use of smart machines, machines talking with one another, and real-time data analysis driven by real-time automatic action.

As a result, Industry 4.0 is a broad vision with well-defined frameworks and reference designs, defined principally by the integration of physical industrial assets with digital technology in what is known as cyber-physical systems. Across the value chain, data and optimization.

On the flip side our feeling of privacy, our concepts of ownership, our purchasing patterns, the time we give to work and leisure, and how we grow our jobs, cultivate our abilities, meet people, and nurture relationships will all be affected by it.

P.S: What do you think about the impact it would make on businesses and individuals in near future. Share your thought in the comment section.

What is Industry 4.0?