The term Industry 4.0 refers to the intelligent networking of industrial machines and processes through modern information and communication technology. People often speak of the fourth industrial revolution in this context. The article reveals what exactly is meant, which technologies play a role in Industry 4.0 and who is already using them.
Components that communicate independently and production facilities that initiate their own repairs – that’s Industry 4.0. All this is made possible by the intelligent networking of people, machines and industrial processes. In some cases, this is creating completely new products, production processes and business models based on data.
From the idea to development to manufacturing – Industry 4.0 influences the entire life cycle of a product. In Industry 4.0, manufacturing is closely linked to modern IT and communication technologies. Value chains are networked worldwide, enabling new, resource-saving forms of collaboration. Production facilities are becoming more flexible and efficient. Intelligent machines take over the coordination of production processes and robots assist in the assembly of heavy components.
There are numerous opportunities for companies in all sectors to use Industrie 4.0 technologies. One large area in which digital transformation is already being used is the automotive and supplier industry.
The following opportunities already exist:
Networked production: The industrial manufacture of a product requires many sub-steps that are performed either by humans or machines. Digital technologies can accelerate or simplify many of these steps. For example, individual work steps can be better coordinated and harmonized. In addition, the utilization of plant and machinery can be better planned.
Flexible factory: Many production lines are already designed as modular systems whose individual parts can be quickly assembled or disassembled and thus adapted to different needs. This offers the advantage of manufacturing individualized products in flexibly adjustable quantities. For both companies and customers, this increases cost-effectiveness.
Customer-centric solutions: In some industries, consumers have the opportunity to help design their products according to personal preferences as part of Industry 4.0. In addition, smart products such as smartphones, which are already being used by customers, often send data to manufacturers. The latter uses the data obtained to improve its products and service. Producer and customer are thus moving ever closer together.
Improved logistics: The flow of goods also benefits from smart technologies and networked machines. For example, special algorithms can calculate the optimal delivery routes, and machines are able to independently send messages to the appropriate people when they need repairs or new material.
Data: Merging and analyzing data – for example, on production processes or the condition of products – yields valuable insights for increasing efficiency in production. These insights can also be used to develop new services and business models – for example, by offering customers "predictive maintenance.
Environmentally sound circular economy: Extensive data collections tell us a lot about the life cycle of products. This gives us the advantage of being able to determine the extent to which the materials used can be recycled as early as the product design stage. Resource-conserving production is thus becoming increasingly realistic.
It is true that Industry 4.0 has not yet fully arrived in all industries and factories. In many areas, however, industrial manufacturing has already developed into networked production in which digital technologies such as automation technology are used. A distinction is often made between four central technological areas of Industrie 4.0:
Connectivity and communication (Industrial Connectivity Services)
Data and analytics
New manufacturing technologies
Human-machine interaction
In the 1970s, information technology was still in its infancy. Desktop PCs, the first office IT applications and computer-supported automation moved into industrial production. By contrast, the central technology for Industry 4.0 is not the computer, but the Internet. Global networking gives digital production a whole new quality.
But why does Industry 4.0 play such a big role at all? The reason is that costs, innovations, speed are the main characteristics of global competition. Data has become an essential success factor. In order to stand up to the competition, companies are therefore called upon to collect data, make it available and convert it into more efficient production processes. In this way, production becomes more dynamic, production cycles are shortened and repairs can already be triggered by the machines themselves.
In addition to a number of opportunities, Industry 4.0 also entails certain risks. We have listed the advantages and disadvantages below:
Advantages of Industry 4.0
Disadvantages of Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is a technological revolution that includes breakthrough technologies such as the Internet of Things, machine learning, Big Data and analytics. These in turn create new possibilities and opportunities that would not be available to us without the respective Industrie 4.0 technologies. In Germany alone, around 15 million jobs are directly and indirectly linked to the manufacturing industry. Since Industry 4.0 helps to make processes more efficient, it therefore offers enormous potential to the economy and thus to quite a few employees. There are already numerous Industry 4.0 solutions that help companies redesign their digital manufacturing, network their entire operations and focus on what their customers want. This results not only in significant improvements in productivity, but also in cost reductions and optimization of market efficiency.
