The Fourth Industrial Revolution – Manufacturing and beyond

This article is part of a larger report we created in collaboration with Fitch Solutions called The Fourth Industrial Revolution: How ready are you? Download it now for a deeper look into how ready enterprises are for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It’s not always easy to spot history in the making, but there is now a growing consensus that the technological advances taking place in areas as diverse as robotics, sensors, big data, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) together constitute a new industrial revolution, one that is at least on a scale with its predecessors. This Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), or Industry 4.0, can broadly be categorized as one in which computers and automation systems interoperate seamlessly as the formerly disparate physical, digital and biological worlds merge. In many cases, the glue in 4IR is 5G connectivity, which enables the harnessing of data at high speeds and low latency regardless of location.

Industry 4.0 involves a series of initiatives focusing on the digitization of manufacturing, and in this sense it clearly represents the next iteration of the three preceding industrial revolutions. It brings significant enhancements to industrial processes based on smart and autonomous systems and fuelled by data and machine learning (ML). Indeed, the most significant aspect of 4IR is surely the enhanced level of communication between computers and, ultimately, the ability to make decisions without human involvement. Through a combination of cyber-physical systems (CPS), the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Systems (IoS), truly revolutionary change is now on the horizon.

Although 4IR and Industry 4.0 tend to be used interchangeably, strictly speaking the latter term refers to the concept of smart factories in which machines are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors while connected to a system that can visualise the entire production line and make decisions on its own. The term originates from the German Industrie 4.0 concept, which had at its heart a promotion of the computerisation of manufacturing, and is currently used to denote the strategy aimed at making Germany the lead market and provider of advanced manufacturing solutions. However, like the previous industrial revolutions, this latest iteration has rapidly expanded beyond its original roots and gone global. Of course, 4IR’s impact on manufacturing alone will be great due to its ability to facilitate a new form of smart production in which intelligent ICT-based machines, systems and networks are capable of independently exchanging and responding to information in order to manage complex industrial production processes.

However, 4IR has much wider scope than just manufacturing, and there is the potential for it to have a significant impact in other areas too. Given that the fourth industrial revolution encompasses breakthroughs in fields as diverse as AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology and quantum computing, it is not surprising that its impact is being felt across a range of sectors. Yet, such is its importance that it could also force a rethink about how countries develop. There’s potential for policy-makers to harness 4IR technologies in order to create a more inclusive, human-centred future and for it to change the way humans live, work and relate to each other.

The fact that billions of people and devices will be connected with unprecedented processing power and storage capacity, and the growing availability of vast amounts of data, surely also provides scope for governments to engage more effectively with their citizens and to improve public protection. At the same time, it may lead to a reassessment of the way in which individuals consume, work and assess health services.

With its capacity to influence both the physical and virtual worlds it’s surely no exaggeration to say that the fourth industrial revolution has the potential to reshape much of the way we live our lives. Autonomous vehicles could transform cities and roads, freeing up space for more human-centred spaces, while new robotic technology could liberate workers from mundane tasks. And it could even reshape our minds and bodies, affecting not only our sense of privacy and how we interact with people but our very identity. Advances in biomedical sciences associated with 4IR, for example, could lead to improvements in health and longer life spans, as well as the ability to interact with people and objects simply by using the power of thought. Already radical innovations in neuroscience, such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which are typically enabled via electromagnetic sensors, are emerging. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have demonstrated ‘smart limbs’ controlled in this way, and there is scope for the technology to be applied to the consumer realm too.

This was jointly written by Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum; Nicholas Jotischky, Head of Custom Research, Fitch Solutions; and Paul Ridgewell, Independent Analyst.