What is Industry 4.0? Learn about the milestone that brought efficiency to processes!

Industry 4.0 has revolutionized the market and the way an organization's processes are carried out, optimizing time, resources and inserting more technology into its production processes.

You've probably studied industrial revolutions at school, right? So if you remember, you know there were three industrial revolutions, each representing a specific breakthrough, resulting in a major step in technological evolution.

But what is this industry 4.0? If you have no idea what that would be, or even if you already know something about it and want to know more, keep reading this article. We will cover some concepts about industry 4.0, in addition to understanding how it will impact your life.

Are you interested? So, come with us and learn the subject through the following topics:

• What is Industry 4.0? 
• What are the main features of Industry 4.0?
• 4 examples of Industry 4.0 application
• What are the iImpacts of the 4.0 industry?

Let's start?

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0, also called the 4th Industrial Revolution, is the latest innovation in the productive process. It is the application of the newest digital technologies to the "factory floor", changing considerably the way to produce.

Throughout history, industrial revolutions have brought significant changes to the production process. For example, when we look at the First Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, we see the emergence of the steam engine and the textile industry.

As we move towards the end of the nineteenth century, we are faced with the Second Industrial Revolution, which was marked by the discovery of electricity and thus its application in industrial processes. It was also marked by a breakthrough in the oil, chemical, and steel industry.

And finally, in the last decades of the twentieth century, we reached the Third Industrial Revolution, marked by microelectronics, the advancement of telecommunications and the emergence of the computer, along with its popularization. As a consequence, we enter the period which is called the internet era.

Thus, we can say that this digital industry is the consequence of all three previous revolutions and relies on automation, computing, and connectivity, aiming the development of intelligent, versatile and efficient factories.

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What are the main features of Industry 4.0?

Among the main innovations that came with industry 4.0, we can consider the Internet of Things (IoT - Internet of Things) as the principal. This concept refers to the connection between intelligent equipment, all connected to the Internet.

Through this connection, it is possible to integrate systems, machines, products, and people. With this, it is possible to gather and analyze data from all of the production, allowing more flexible and efficient processes, corrected in real time, producing products with higher quality and with reduced costs.

Thus, the machines talk to each other, keeping the production line always up to date and with as little human interference as possible. Everything can be controlled by computers, which are connected to the Internet. With all of this, it's possible to manage a decentralized production, with units scattered around the world.

This connection allows all these branches to produce the parts simultaneously, allowing, for example, that an airplane is produced in an integrated way around the globe.

For this to be possible, it was necessary for the emergence of wireless communication between machines, information digitization, intelligent robots, sensors, 3D printers and more. Simulation techniques, modeling, and virtualization of products and processes were also required.

This is where the concept of Information Technology and Big Data comes in, which is all data available for analysis. By analyzing these data, AI systems make decisions that will be applied in an integrated way by all machines.

This is what we call neural networks, which is this autonomous learning of the machine by analyzing the data of past productions. Thus, the more data available, the more reliable the outcome and decision taken by the computer.

We can already see applications of this type of self-learning in software like Netflix, which introduces you to new movies and series suggestions based on the programs you have already watched. So the more movies you watch, the more likely that a movie in your suggestions will be one you'll enjoy.

But where to store such a vast amount of data? In order to deal with this situation, comes what we call cloud computing. The data now is stored on the Internet, allowing the release of both physical spaces in hardware systems as the access to these data around the world by machines linked together.

But cloud computing is not limited to file storage, which is one of its simplest functions, in fact. The great purpose of cloud computing is to use immense servers located outside the enterprise for the purpose of processing all kinds of data, controlling machines and equipment.

Thus, employees, suppliers, and customers can access this data in real time, allowing greater integration, increasing the agility and efficiency of the management and production processes.

You may be thinking now: but what about security? After all, with all this data on the internet, companies become targets for hackers. This is one of the biggest concerns of industry 4.0, with a major focus on developing fully dedicated systems to keep this data secure.

Another highlight is the use of simulation to portray the physical world in real-time in a virtual environment, allowing testing and adjustments to be made before taking the process to the production line, which reduces costs and improves quality.

Thus, this simulation allows the training of employees and tests of configurations to be made in the software, leaving the machine more free to work, in addition to reducing its wear.

The combination of all these factors drives industrial automation to another level, culminating in the creation of what we call "Intelligent Factories", marked by its modular feature.

In other words, in these factories, we can produce in small lots, reducing distances and inventories, which results in cost reduction, which also fits in the principles of Lean Manufacturing.

Therefore, with this reduction in production scales, we do not have to build huge factories on the contrary, we can focus on small modules that work in a fully integrated way. This increases efficiency and changes the relationships between producers, suppliers, and customers.

4 examples of Industry 4.0 application

The principles of Industry 4.0 can be applied in several ways. Check out 5 examples of current technologies that are part of this concept:

1. 3D printer

Technology capable of producing homes, cars, toys, jewelry and custom parts. 3D printing will gain space in the market and reduce the production time of many processes.

2. Information security

With the advancement of technology and connectivity, security measures have become necessary to protect critical data of companies.

3. Smart stores

Stores with autonomous robots that are able to track inventories and products to facilitate and improve the customer experience.

4. Big Data and Automation

Data gathering in an optimized and intelligent way to work together with autonomous machines capable of producing on a large scale for industrial production.

At this point, you already know what the industry 4.0 is and what its main features are. But what will be the impact of this way of producing in your life?

What are the impacts of the 4.0 industry?

Well, we can say that this industrial revolution will greatly influence the lives of industry professionals, bringing some changes in the structure of this area.

We can highlight the impact on the health and safety of employees since they will not need to expose themselves to environments with high unhealthiness and dangerousness since the machines will fulfill this role. Thus, we will have an increase in the worker's quality of life.

For example, in the automotive industry, industrial automation has been around for some time, allowing, for example, cars of a different color to be manufactured on the same production line, different from what happened at the time of the Ford T model at the beginning of the century, in which all cars produced came in black.

The problem with this industrial automation until then was that it was necessary for the worker to enter the paint booth to change the paint. With the system of integrated networks, the machine itself commands this ink change.

When we speak of technological evolution, a common fear among people is the replacement of man by machine. That is, there is a fear that many jobs will become extinct. There is a little hysteria around this subject, which results in the fear of machines, in the best Skynet style.

But stay calm, just don't hit your computer today and it will not hit you back tomorrow. Just joking...

In addition, many new jobs will emerge due to this new demand for skilled labor. In engineering, for example, we will have the need for engineers increasingly prepared to deal with this entire information network.

It is undeniable that some jobs will end, but if we look at the past, this is nothing new. When we look at the consequences of the invention of the car, we can conclude that many cart horse owners have become obsolete, having to adapt to remain in the market.

If we look more recently, I can ask you a question: where are the typists? With the emergence of the computer, these professionals lost space and, to integrate into this new era, they had to update themselves, learning how to use this new machine.

Where do I want to go? Well, what I'm trying to say is that these changes are a natural part of technological progress and that, despite the initial unemployment, this innovation can be accompanied by those who are always connected in development.

In the same way that a typist could adapt to the computer, so a production line operator can follow the development of robotics. Although some forms of work are over, many just change their form.

The big point in question is that this whole new industrial reality will require new technical skills from the professionals. It is necessary to have knowledge in the digital area, understanding of several areas of knowledge and adaptability, as this digital industry is constantly evolving.

An extremely valued point in the 4.0 industry is an exclusively human feature: creativity. This inexhaustible ability is essential for one of the most important areas of the industry, which is the research and development area. There will always be a need for innovation, and for this task, there is nothing that compares to a creative mind.

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