Fourth Industrial Revolution and Industry 4.0 are often used as synonyms, but they indicate two different contexts, one more technological the other more theoretical
Despite a name that seems to unite them, the terms Industry 4.0 and Fourth Industrial Revolution are not interchangeable. In short, looking at the nuances of meaning, when we use one of the two words we cannot use the other as a synonym. So here are the differences between Industry 4.0 and Industrie 4.0.
If we talk about industrial revolution we have to jump back several years into the history books. The term first industrial revolution identifies the process of mechanization of work processes that began around 1790 in the United Kingdom. The new machinery, powered by the discovery of the steam engine, radically changed many uses and many products. For example, interchangeable parts were born in this period. Which in time led to the first mass productions. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the automotive industry again disrupted the business world, and it is from here that we begin to talk about the second industrial revolution.
History of Industrial Revolutions
The real great innovation of that period was the creation of the assembly line. A discovery that is almost always attributed to Henry Ford and his Model T, which was first used in 1913. Even though it must be said that Ransom Olds, founder of the Olds Motor Vehicle Company, used a similar system as early as 1901. The term third industrial revolution, on the other hand, is more nebulous, also because it is a recent creation. It is an industrial model that does not take its cue from real technological innovations but combines new ways of living and today’s telecommunications to achieve global development. In practice, the industries of the third revolution are those that aim at globalization, constant communication with the customer, that wink at renewable energies and that must coexist with a wide range of socio-economic and political forces.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The fourth industrial revolution, the one we will experience and are already experiencing in these years, is the result of a particular technology. Or rather, it exploits several technologies, but it owes its main development to the use of Internet of Things objects. That is, smart and connected devices that allow the creation and management of data and make an enterprise interactive. Compared to the past, this is not a revolution dictated by a change in consumer habits, or by technologies developed for other fields and then applied to industry. It is instead a radical change in the conception of the productive processes. In every aspect, from time and cost efficiency to quality monitoring.
Industry 4.0
Having reached this point, we must try to explain what we mean by the two terms. So what do we mean by Industry 4.0 and Industrie 4.0? The international management consultancy McKinsey and Company has defined Industry 4.0 as follows: “This is the next phase of digitalization in manufacturing. It will be driven by four precise directions. First, the increase in the volume of data to be managed, which will lead to an increasing strength of computational value and connectivity, especially with new networks for low-power connection. Within companies it will then be increasingly essential to have machinery and professionals with a very high capacity for analysis and business intelligence. In Industry 4.0, collaboration between man and machine through touch control panels will also be decisive. Finally, some technologies, such as robotics and 3D printing, will make it possible to increase production while drastically reducing costs.
Industrie 4.0
It is more difficult to explain the term Industrie 4.0. It is in fact an approach, a point of view, on the new way of entrepreneurship. The German government, which is trying to become a world leader in the field of smart factories with funding to companies, with this term indicates: “a paradigm shift from centralized to decentralized production and intelligent and always connected production”. This means not only investing in new technologies, but also training in universities the appropriate professional figures, creating laws that help companies in the approach to the new business environment. And above all, financing the realities that are testing these systems and will become a model for all the others. At the moment in Europe, Germany has been the first nation to notice the industrial change underway. So much so that large companies such as Microsoft, Cisco and IBM have opened headquarters between Berlin and Munich. Laboratories where they will test new solutions for new companies. On a global level, however, the leaders in the Industry 4.0 sector are the United States and China. But this is a picture that is constantly evolving.
Italy is also making great strides forward, thanks mainly to the Industry 4.0 Plan launched by the government and which is bearing its first fruits.