From Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0 and beyond
When components can communicate independently with the production plant, arranging repairs for themselves if ever necessary – when people, machines, and the industrial process is intelligently networked, we talk about Industry 4.0. But how did we get this far, and what does the future hold?
Various key events characterize the industrial revolutions of the past: From the invention of the steam engine (Industry 1.0) to the introduction of electrical engineering (Industry 2.0) in mass production to the steady automation of systems (Industry 3.0) through information technologies and the Internet’s introduction. Today, development has led us to technological trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchains.
Currently, we are in an era of intelligent machines, storage systems, and production facilities that can exchange information, trigger actions, and control and monitor themselves without human intervention. While we are still in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, we are already developing thoughts about the future: What are today’s “leading-edge technologies” that will play a vital role as the industry evolves toward Industry 5.0?
