Industry 4.0

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – Adopting Industry 4.0 technologies would make MSMEs more efficient and competitive.

Concept –

The term ‘Industry 4.0’ was coined by the German government in 2011.
Additive manufacturing, Internet of Things, Cyber Physical Systems, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and data analytics are some of the technologies associated with Industry 4.0.
With the help of these technologies, the manufacturing industry will be able to make data-driven decisions.
Industry 4.0 integrated ‘data’ with manufacturing and Information Technology.
To take advantage of data-driven decision-making, the governments of other countries also coined their own industrial initiatives like Industry 4.0. For example, the S. calls it Smart Manufacturing, China calls it Made in China 2025, and India refers it to as Make in India or Digital India.

There are four distinct industrial revolutions that the world either has experienced or continues to experience today.

First Industrial Revolution: Happened between the late 1700s and early 1800s. During this period of time, manufacturing evolved from focusing on manual labor performed by people and aided by work animals to a more optimized form of labor performed by people through the use of water and steam-powered engines and other types of machine tools.
Second Industrial Revolution: In the early part of the 20th century, the world entered a second industrial revolution with the introduction of steel and use of electricity in factories. The introduction of electricity enabled manufacturers to increase efficiency and helped make factory machinery more mobile. It was during this phase that mass production concepts like the assembly line were introduced as a way to boost productivity.
Third Industrial Revolution: Starting in the late 1950s, it slowly began to emerge, as manufacturers began incorporating more electronic—and eventually computer—technology into their factories. During this period, manufacturers began experiencing a shift that put less emphasis on analog and mechanical technology and more on digital technology and automation software.