Industry 4.0: How the Internet of Things is Revolutionizing Manufacturing

Industry 4.0 might sound like the newest iteration of a SimCity-style tycoon game, but it's really the biggest shift to hit global manufacturing since automation. Centered around advanced robotics and automation, new ways of human-machine interaction (such as augmented reality) and vast troves of data and boosted connectivity, Industry 4.0 is poised to modernize manufacturing and boost western industrial competitiveness. Coupled with the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 offers manufacturers the ability to collect, analyze and act on immense stockpiles of data like never before, and then set those actions in motion with highly efficient, automated robotics. Industry 4.0 – shorthand for the maturation of digital technology within the manufacturing industry – is the marriage of IT and manufacturing operations. Mark Holleran, CEO of Xplore Technologies, says it represents a "holistic shift from centralized to decentralized manufacturing," which requires the adaptation of processes, talent, business structure and technology.