Industry 4.0

 

Industry 4.0 means the digitalization of production or manufacturing and related industrial processes. Industry 4.0 is used to represent the fourth industrial revolution. It can also be defined as, ‘a name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.’ This term is actually a vision that evolved from an initiative to make the German companies more competitive. This term was first used by a team of scientists, developing a strategy for German government, as fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2016, mastering the fourth industrial revolution was the theme of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

First Industrial Revolution: The first Industrial revolution was referred in between 1760 to 1820, in America and Europe. Discovery of James Watt Steam Engine was the significant footprint of this revolution.  The transformation from hand production to machine with the use of steam power and water power, was an example of first revolution.

Second Industrial Revolution:  The Second Industrial Revolution was known for Technological up-gradation, innovation of better quality devices for automatic running of machinery, telecommunication and electro-mechanical control. The period was from 1870 to 1914, which was results in installation of railways, telecommunication, electrification, etc.

Third Industrial Revolution: It was also known as digital revolution, happened in late 20^th century. The period was from 1970 to 2000, specifically after the end of two world wars and industrial slowdown. More advanced digital technologies, computerization, automation, entry of new communication devices, renewable energy sources, etc. were the examples of third revolution.

All the above three revolutions emphasizes on improvement of quality, productivity, cost reduction through the process of automation.

Fourth Industrial Revolution: The period was from 2015 –till date. The major factors are automation through robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Simulation etc.  In the first three revolutions the process of up-gradation was result of continuous research and development efforts taken by the scientists’ i.e. human intelligence. However, 4^th revolution will be driven by machine intelligence or Artificial Intelligence. In this era, the process of thinking is shifted from human intelligence to machine intelligence. AI is a kind of technology, where machines are able to learn in an intelligent way by using Machine Learning (ML) technique, means learning from experience. For example, on Google Map, we noticed a female voice saying ‘take a right turn after 300 meters, then go straight’. It is a good example of Artificial Intelligence, where google map instruct driver, suggest the alternate route, inform about road condition etc.  Hence, we can say that AI, MI, ML, IoT, big data will be the driving factors of next generation.