Blog / Industry 4.0 – The Fourth Industrial Revolution
When we think of the industrial revolution, most of us remember our high school history or social studies classes. We think of the late 1700s, steam engines, miners caked in coal dust, and urchin chimney sweeps swarming across London. But early education has always been about delivering a broad understanding about a variety of subjects. We don’t typically specialize until post-secondary school, whether that’s a college, university, or trade school. That’s why you might be understandably surprised to learn that there’s actually been three industrial revolutions in our history, and according to some experts, we’ve even entered into a fourth, also known as Industry 4.0.
The First Three Revolutions
For a bit of background, let’s take a quick look at the history of industry and how we’ve reached this point.
What we typically refer to as the industrial revolution is in actuality only the first of a series of dramatic transformations to manufacturing and industrial processes as technology progressed throughout history. Although historians disagree about some of the specifics, the industrial revolution occurred between 1760 and 1840. This is the period we all learned about in school during which manufacturing transitioned from manual to mechanized production with new tools and steam power.
If the first industrial revolution was about mechanization, the second was about electrification. The period between 1871 and 1914 saw a dramatic rise in the electrification of cities and factories, as well as the installation of railway and telegraph networks, creating a huge boom in production that paved the way for the roaring twenties.
The main theme of the third industrial revolution would have to be computerization. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, the Digital Revolution (as it’s also known) saw widespread adoption of digital rather than mechanical or analogue electronics, including the adoption of home computers in the 80s and the rise of the internet in the 90s.
What is Industry 4.0?
Now, in the interests of fairness, it should be noted that not all experts agree on the existence of a fourth industrial revolution. For some the phenomena we’re seeing in industry today are just an extension of the last, not the start of a new one. However, most industry insiders agree that, based on their potential to improve productivity and efficiency, the rapid growth and adoption of technology will indeed revolutionize industry as we know it today regardless of it’s final official moniker in historical hindsight.
And that, at it’s core, is what Industry 4.0 and the new industrial revolution are about—technological disruption. Once the dream of science-fiction writers (and admittedly still not quite where they thought we’d be by now), artificial intelligence and advanced robotics are rapidly working their way into supply chains, inventory management, and even customer service. Virtual and augmented reality offer new experiences for designers, producers, and consumers alike. Faster processors in computers and nascent quantum computing have the potential to entirely rewrite how businesses handle and process complex data. Then of course there’s the Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT, including remote sensors for production processes or agricultural soil monitoring, to say nothing of how cloud storage, biotechnology, 3D printing, and blockchains are changing the business landscape on their own as well. Furthermore, these technologies aren’t just changing the production process. In fact, Salesforce recently conducted a global survey in which the majority of respondents felt emerging and maturing technologies will change how they interact with businesses. In other words, even customer service is likely to be affected (we already have self-serve ordering kiosks and checkout lanes, after all).
And that, at its core, is what Industry 4.0 is all about–the application of new and usually “smart” technologies to improve not just productivity but virtually every aspect of modern business, and it’s why futurologists and businesspeople of all stripes are investing in their technology and IT. Having the right infrastructure to support all these powerful technologies is a must for any industrial players looking to stay competitive going forward.
How do I get started?
Industrial revolutions (and any megatrend, really) can be hard to notice until it’s passed or at least deeply matured, so you can forgive yourself if you’ve been dragging your feet on truly upgrading your organization’s technology (though our friendly neighbourhood cyber-man will disagree considering how serious a security concern outdated tech can be). Being an early adopter is great, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with waiting for others to trial new technology before taking it on yourself. That said, it’s become clear over the last few years that a new wave of advanced technology has arrived and it’s time to start taking it seriously.
So the first step for making your factory, refinery, paper mill, or any other industrial compound Industry 4.0 friendly will be to consult with a credible managed IT expert. That means establishing a solid foundation on which to build Industry 4.0. This often leads to upgrades of existing IT infrastructure to ensure it’s fast, stable, and secure. Managed IT experts will be able to tell you how much bandwidth, cloud storage, and other infrastructure you’ll need. IIoT devices and anything connected to a network also constitutes a security risk, so you’ll also need experts in cyber security to weigh in about how to protect your future smart factory from hackers. Then you have to source the best servers, devices, and computers to handle it all. To be clear, we’re not saying joining the fourth industrial revolution will be cheap, but even a large investment will pay off over time if you can leverage it properly and earn returns. In fact, if these sorts of investments didn’t pay off, we probably wouldn’t be writing this article. What’s more, you don’t have to completely redesign your facilities. There’s nothing wrong with taking a piecemeal approach and investing in only smart security cameras to start, for example.
A less-thought-of companion to Industry 4.0 is migrating to energy efficient IT ecosystems. As energy costs rise to accommodate the switch to green alternatives, the time is right to replace less efficient IT systems with modern, high-efficiency equivalents. This adds energy (and cost) savings to the efficiency increases inherent to Industry 4.0, further improving your returns on the investment.
Regardless of how individual businesses and industries react, it’s important for industry players to at least recognize they’re in the middle of a seismic technological shift and be ready to react, regardless of whether you’re a small business or a multinational conglomerate. When you’re ready to take the leap into Industry 4.0, whether you’re looking to completely redesign your factories or would prefer to take a piecemeal approach and only invest in smart security cams to start, feel free to contact a TRINUS representative. Our team of technology and cyber security experts will be happy to discuss what you need to join in the fourth industrial revolution.
Sincerely,
The TRINUS Team
trinustech.com
