Three Things Business Leaders Should Know About Industry 4.0

Featured article by Jeremy Sutter, Independent Technology Author

The first two industrial revolutions characterized a period of extraordinary innovative, financial and social change. The revolutions transformed some countries into the world’s first industrialized societies. A large group of us have lived, worked and gained experiences through the third one, which was characterized by information innovation. Progressively, the winds of industrial transformation are blowing once more, bringing with them another transformation – Industry 4.0 – which is set to change life as we have become accustomed to it.

Industry 4.0 is not a new innovation, nor a business sphere. It’s just a new methodology of thinking that ensures results that were not possible 10 years ago are now achievable, courtesy of technological advancements.

Industry 4.0 involves three key components:

– Communications Infrastructure that is secure enough to be utilized by large industries,

– Powerful Analytics Tools and Huge Data i.e., systems that can process huge data and give insights to be acted on, and

– Cyber-physical Systems and Internet of Things. This includes sensors that can collect large data to be used by producers.

So, what are the three things business leaders should know about industry 4.0?

The Internet of Things (IoT) has a role to play

Industry 4.0 is another sector where the Internet of Things hopes to assume an immense role. This is on account of the sheer volume of sensors and “things” that have the capacity to feed data into it and consequently add value to the process of manufacturing. Projections on this industry have highlighted IoT, in conjunction with cyber-physical systems, as avenues in which a blend of sensors, software processors and advanced communication technology will support the improvement of Industry 4.0.

Industrial internet and efficiency

Industrial internet is essentially a term that was started by General Electric (GE) to illustrate the way big data analytics along with the Internet of Things can be used to produce many opportunities for manufacturers or industries.

During GE’s release of the ‘Industrial Internet Report’ for 2015, the firm highlighted that it anticipates that the concept of industrial internet will assist companies in energy production and distribution, oil and gas, transport, healthcare, mining, and manufacturing. What is more is that GE has the formula to be used in the industrial internet. The formula begins at the base with huge data, to which you include the IoT (factories, supply chains, equipment, and end products), then you bring in the technological expertise involving analytics, and complete it off with the setting of the industries where the patients or equipment are at the center of the business.

As of now, a number of partners are working with GE to ensure it has the power and support to become a huge game changer in the future times. They include Intel, Cisco, and Amazon Web Services.

It’s not worth billions; it’s worth trillions

Anything associated with the Internet of Things (IoT) or Enhanced Computerization is worth huge sums of money and is thus a valuable component of Industry 4.0. According to a report released by Accenture in January 2015, it explains that an industrial-scale model of the Internet of Things, or simply Industry 4.0, could top up $14.2 trillion of the world’s economy in the next 15 years. Specifically, the UK alone could benefit by close to $531 billion from the industry.

Siemens, the only mobile company that has a smart production line working in Germany, cited IMS Research figures that demonstrated how the worldwide market for industrial automation could rake in profits of up to $200 billion (around £134 billion, or AU$256 billion) by the end of 2015.

Many of the benefits of industry 4.0 could be attributed to the thirst for higher efficiency and cost reduction driven by real-time data. This sector may determine the innovations of the future, such as 5G networks, which will ensure that “things” are operating at optimal efficiency and influencing service provisions that require precision such as insuring a business.