Industry 5.0: The Next Industrial Revolution

Many companies are still in the midst of Industry 4.0, but the ‘next thing’ has already come into focus, and that is Industry 5.0. This is triggered by the fourth industrial revolution and enabled by IT developments that include Artificial Intelligence, IoT & Automation, Big Data Analytics, Virtualisation, and Machine Learning. Industry 5.0 is all about adding a?human touch?to Industry 4.0 - which was all about digitisation. Here’s a quick look at what Industry 5.0 is and how it can enable transformation.?

What is Industry 5.0?

The Fifth Industrial Revolution is called Industry 5.0 and is an emerging industrialisation phase wherein advanced technologies, AI powered-robots, and humans work together to improve and make work processes more efficient. This revolution will be built on top of Industry 4.0 and is an industry vision with goals much more than productivity and efficiency as it is more social and human-centric. So that means there is a paradigm shift of focus from economic value to societal value and well-being. There will be a greater emphasis on putting the planet and people before the profits of the organisations.?

The aim is to create a perspective broader than Industry 4.0 by encompassing all business strategies and organisations. At the core of Industry 5.0, the aim is to create more intuitive interactions between machines and humans across all operations. When implemented, the industrial world will see that the worker's well-being has more focus with the help of new technologies. It also aims to provide prosperity beyond growth and jobs while respecting the planet's limits. It is a complementary approach to Industry 4.0 and uses innovation and research to transition to a human-centric, resilient and sustainable industry.?

Industry 5.0 Strategies

The motive behind Industry 5.0 is not to limit the industry, which applies to every organisation, domain and sector. So that means the application is wider than Industry 4.0 and emphasises three strategies.

Human-centricity

It has a strategy wherein people are no longer just resources but assets to the organisation. This means that instead of people or resources serving companies, companies serve people. The talent available in the company is not just used to serve customers and give them a competitive edge, the Industry 5.0 emphasises adding value to workers' lives to keep and attract the best employees. When implemented properly, one could see the more intuitive machine and human touchpoints as there will be new systems and solutions in place on how teams work and engage in various business processes. The benefits of this approach are:

• Streamlines operator experience and improves worker safety
• Better accessibility and workforce diversity
• Empowers operators with better cyber-physical interactions.?

Resilience

Industry 4.0 was more intent on optimising profits and improving efficiencies. But the pandemic and the supply chain disruption made it clear that priority should be given to operational resilience. So instead of focusing only on profits and growth, organisations would look at reacting to crises and anticipating things through digital tools to ensure stability. The advantages of this strategy are:

• Operative flexibility and gaining a competitive edge in supply chain management
• Reduce operational costs and sourcing through predictive insights
• Equip resources for skills that evolve with robust training programs.

Sustainability

It extends the concept of sustainability from merely reducing, mitigating or minimising climate change to creating a positive change. The goal is to make the world a better place by making companies become a solution rather than a problem. The benefits of this approach are:

• Increases company reputation
• A positive impact on the environment and the society
• Reduce waste and energy cost

Industry 5.0 Applications and Technologies Use Cases

Here are a few examples of the applications and technologies that can be a product of Industry 5.0 innovations:

• Digital Twins: It is a virtual representation of a physical system or a product that serves purposes like maintenance, monitoring, testing, simulation and integration.??
• Predictive maintenance: AI can predict accidents and downtime by analysing sensor data. It helps in scheduling maintenance in advance before the equipment fails to become productive.?
• Generative design: Use ML algorithms to create an interactive design similar to the engineer's design. With this, the designers have to input the design criteria, and the software can simply generate many design possibilities.?
• Forecasting price: AI-enabled software that can predict the price of raw materials and enable price forecasting and get updates in real-time to avoid downtime and make flexible decisions.?

Industry 5.0 is yet to gain traction as businesses still engage in Industry 4.0. However, the fact is that many governments are pushing companies to the next level to build the Industry 5.0 framework on the three strategies. But in the current challenging environment, implementing Industry 5.0 can answer those challenges as it is more resilient, human-centric and sustainable.?