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Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 represents the new wave in the technological evolution of production, which aims to transform production units into "smart factories", to meet the new standards set by a market in constant change.

Connecting the physical world with the virtual world, in cyber-physical systems will have a disruptive impact on manufacturing processes and especially people. In short, this revolution incorporates smart, interconnected technologies, transcending the framework of organizations and interfering with our daily lives.

The transition to Industry 4.0 is made through:

  • Automation
  • Digitization
  • Computerization
  • Mobility

From an economic point of view, Industry 4.0 represents a chance for relaunch, re-engineering of production and evolution of business models for services and products.

From a political and social point of view, through the introduction of the Industry 4.0 concept, the aim was to reindustrialize Europe, to current standards, for a sustainable development. After two decades in which production was transferred to Asia and only one in 10 companies in the EU was manufacturing, the European Commission has drawn up a plan called "European Industrial Renaissance", consisting in the development of an industry that launches faster products, increase flexibility and increase the efficiency of the use of resources through

How did Industry 4.0 come about?

Industry 4.0 has emerged as a necessity for the efficiency of production processes.

The expression "Fourth industrial revolution" was first used by Klaus Schwab (executive chairman of the World Economic Forum) in 2015 in an article published in Foreign Affairs. The term Industry 4.0 first appeared in 2011, through a strategic initiative of the German government and is characterized by a fusion of technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. In April 2013, the term "Industry 4.0" appeared again at an industrial fair in Hannover, Germany, and quickly became Germany's national strategy.

Later, this concept was taken over by the whole Europe, after which it was adopted globally. In America, the concept was called "Smart Manufacturing", in China it is called "Made in China 2025", and in Japan "Innovation 25". But they all aim for the same thing, which is to develop an industry that launches products faster, increases flexibility and increases the efficiency of the use of resources through automation and digitization. 

Article published by Daniela Popa