How much do you know about Industry 4.0?

Little is known about “The 4^th Industrial Revolution”, leading people to think that the concept represents something that is far, far away from us, that constitutes a later evolution of Industry that hasn’t happened yet. But, is that the case? Even though the term “Industry 4.0” was first heard during the 2011 Hannover Fair in Germany, it has been in motion since the 2000s. It introduces a higher level of automation, that is better known to us though smart devices and smart systems, in other words devices and systems that communicate with each other, thus achieving optimal results in manufacturing and provision of goods and services.

The changes that these revolutions brought about modified in a fundamental way our lives. We hardly think about these topics, but try to imagine how different our world, routine, days would be, if the power steam or the electricity, after that, had not been introduced in the 19^th century; or even, if the computer had not come forth and revolutionized the process of manufacturing.

So, what has the Industry 4.0 brought?

In a few words, Industry 4.0 seeks to automate the manufacturing process with the use of networks and computers, in order to make it more cost effective and to enhance the recycling and re-usage of material and resources. As is the tendency these past few decades, one could also argue that the 4^th Industrial Revolution has an eco-friendlier outlook towards these industrial interconnected processes and is inspired by the need to preserve, and not burden, the world around us by exchanging data and information.

References
Kinzel, H. “Industry 4.0 – Where does this leave the Human Factor?”. 27th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, Dubrovnik, Croatia. September, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://goo.gl/srmnof
Kusmin, L.K. “Industry 4.0”. School of Digital Technologies, Tallinn University, Estonia. [Online]. Available: https://goo.gl/cNwv2Z