The first industrial revolution began in the 18th century when the power of the steam engine was harnessed and manufacturing first became mechanised. The second revolution came about when mass production techniques were deployed in the early 20th century. And the third (the one we’re in now) came over the next few decades as electronic systems and computer technologies helped to further automate production lines. So what’s next?
According to some industry experts from the likes of Siemens and Bosch, a new period of manufacturing technology dubbed “Industry 4.0” will be upon us within the next couple of decades. At its core are cyber-physical systems made up of software, sensors, processors and communication technologies, according to Brian Holliday, divisional director of Siemens Industry Automation.‘These are systems that have both a computational element and a physical interaction with the real world,’ he said. ‘What it essentially means is there will be increasing levels of intelligence in devices that are used in industrial environments like factories.’
Many of the individual technologies that lay the foundation for Industry 4.0 have emerged over the last 10 to 15 years, he added. These pre-existing technologies will be embedded into materials, parts and the machines that work on them so they can communicate with one another in real time and exchange commands as products make their way down the production line.‘We’re moving on to being able to communicate wirelessly with a broader range of devices in an industrial environment,’ said Holliday. ‘That means, for example, not just the internet of things, as we would understand it in the consumer environment, but intelligent industrial devices communicating with each other in a way that is dramatically beyond what is available today.’
Up until now there hasn’t been a way of linking the isolated elements of production chains, according to Dr Werner Struth, who sits on Bosch’s management board and oversees production system development among other things. ‘Now, data network technology such as RFID [radio-frequency identification] chips – mini transponders – offer the opportunity to gather more data and to map entire production units, stretching all the way from the supplier to the customer,’ he said.