How Industry 4.0 Can Energize the Cyber-Physical Factory

Our society went from an agrarian economy to mass-producing affordable goods using steam power, electricity and, eventually, computers and automation. We've gone from the horse and buggy to the Model T, and now we're on to self-driving cars! The smart factories of the Industry 4.0 era will be powered by the internet of things, cloud computing and cyber-physical systems (CPS) technologies. Cyber-physical systems are powered by enabling cloud technologies which allow intelligent objects and cloud-based programmatic modules to communicate and interact with each other. These new cyber-physical manufacturing facilities use robotics, sensors, big data, automation, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, additive manufacturing, cybersecurity systems and other cutting-edge technologies to deliver unprecedented flexibility, precision and efficiency to the manufacturing process.