Industry 5.0 - What Is It?

Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution has been a topic of discussion since it was first publicly introduced in 2011. When thinking of Industry 4.0 a few buzz words may quickly come to mind such as; IoT, smart machines, smart factories, increased automation, digitalization, IT/OT, and big data.

But as many companies are still trying to implement Industry 4.0 practices, some are talking about Industry 5.0 today.

What is Industry 5.0 you ask?

At an overview Industry 5.0 is more of an add-on or compliment to Industry 4.0 with the intent of being more human and societal focused.

There are three core principals, Human-centric | Sustainability | Resilience. ?

Human-centric: The goal is to bring back the human element to these advanced and automated factories while offering more evolved training to advance the skills of workers. Workers who are aided by cobots (collaborative robots) will have more meaningful jobs and a more fulfilling work experience than previously.

The topic of company culture is front and center during most recruiting discussions I have and the implementation of Industry 5.0 practices will undoubtedly help with the attraction and retention of talent.

Sustainability: Has a focus on environmentally conscious efforts. Going green, reducing waste, and preventing environmental damages.

Resilience: Take into consideration our broken supply chain and the problems is has caused globally. This principal calls for improving that key infrastructure (like our supply chain) to better combat interruptions.

You may be asking yourself; “how can I adopt Industry 5.0 practices?”

If you take some time to consider the three core principals and look around your company I'm sure you'll find a few ways to implement Industry 5.0 principals.

Improve upon your company’s culture by increasing diversity, empowering your workforce, and putting people before profits. Make the extra effort to repurpose material or create a new recycling program. Come up with a strategic plan for how your organization won’t be as fragile during times of crisis and focus on agility and flexibility to remaining stable.?