What Is Industry 4.0 and How to adopt Industry 4.0 framework ?

We live in exciting times of fundamental technological transformation. The pace and scope of ground-breaking scientific and technological advances coming from research institutes, start-ups and large organizations are at their peak, and collaboration between these are yielding into magical innovations. We are witnessing the “science fiction” of yesterday converting into today’s reality in form of new products and services that we won’t be able to imagine having lived without.

Before digging deeper into what is Industry 4.0, how it will change manufacturing sector and impact it will create for everyone around, its important to understand how we reached here. For that we need to understand industry evaluation. This evaluation will help us to understand lessons we learned along the way.

The 1st industrial revolution (18th century)?started with the invention of machines like steam engine, & spinning jenny. With introduction of machines, major urbanisation occurred, economy focus shifted from agriculture to industry.

?The 2nd industrial revolution (19th century) occurred with the rise of steel, oil, electricity and innovations like telegraph, radio & telephone took place. Process of making physical labour more efficient begin. Humans continued to engage in mentally intensive work, such as engineering and the sciences.

The 3rd industrial revolution (end of the 20th century) saw the rise of digital technologies fueled by inventions like PC and internet. This is significant, because it sets the ball rolling for the dehumanization of not only physical labor, but intellectual labor as well.

The 4th Industrial Revolution is a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other advance technologies. With fourth revolution boundaries between physical, digital & biological world are getting blurred.

From 1st revolution to the fourth we have reached from steam engine to search engine. Now lets try to dive little deeper to understand what is industry 4.0.

Industry 4.0?is a set of technological changes to create a coherent framework to be introduced in the manufacturing process. These advance technology would turn manufacturing units into smart factory enabling them achieving increased automation, self-optimized process improvements, higher level of efficiency and responsiveness to customers which was not possible earlier.

1.??Where to go next (vision) ?

In business, those who look to the future usually become pioneers in their field. We are living in connected world that changes very rapidly, which makes observing market trends and predicting future shifts inevitable to remain valid in the business. Pragmatic leaders will continuously evaluate innovative technologies/process that can become enabler in the transition.

2.??What are the problem area (challenge) ?

Business leaders needs to identify problem area which can be addressed by digitization/automation. Analysis of production/profitability/sales, discussions with key stakeholders like customers/employees, and root cause analysis can help in zeroing down on potential problem area. Broader understanding of advance technology will help decision maker to select appropriate business challenge which needs digital intervention.

3.??Who would be your supplier (knowledge partner) ?

Technology/Solution/Product/ supplier should be selected based on knowledge, experience, time duration and price. Supplier should have extensive experience not only in providing solution but also in working with similar business, because each business type will have its own setup & challenges. On some occasions suppler and knowledge partner would be two different entities, while knowledge partner would help you in over all transformation process starting from identifying challenges to adoption of solution, suppler would focus on solution deliverables.

4.??Why to go for transformation (return on investment)

Investment return is a key element in business world. For this reason, this calculation must be done meticulously with respect to above mentioned 3 elements. ROI analysis is more than simply boiling down the decision to costs involved, while cost part is important, but one should also look into how prospective technology/solution will impact business, employees, customers and end users.

Transformation process should be led by competitive leadership team supported by skilled workforce and flexible organization structure. Business leaders can start with small and easy use cases and eventually move to complex end to end process utilising earlier learning lessons. Unlike purchasing computer hardware or software, industry 4.0 solutions are mostly tailored made, which offers high level of customization but also comes with tricky implementation. For better implementation and execution of system end user should be involved right from the design part.