The Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) is the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology. Large-scale machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the internet of things (IoT) are integrated for increased automation, improved communication and self-monitoring, and production of smart machines that can analyze and diagnose issues without the need for human intervention.

Interconnection — the ability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Internet of things, or the internet of people (IoP)
Information transparency — the transparency afforded by Industry 4.0 technology provides operators with comprehensive information to make decisions. Inter-connectivity allows operators to collect immense amounts of data and information from all points in the manufacturing process, identify key areas that can benefit from improvement to increase functionality
Technical assistance — the technological facility of systems to assist humans in decision-making and problem-solving, and the ability to help humans with difficult or unsafe tasks
Decentralized decisions — the ability of cyber physical systems to make decisions on their own and to perform their tasks as autonomously as possible. Only in the case of exceptions, interference, or conflicting goals, are tasks delegated to a higher level

Improved Productivity
In simple terms, Industry 4.0 technologies enable you to do more with less. In other words, you can produce more and faster while allocating your resources more cost-effectively and efficiently.

Your production lines will also experience less downtime because of enhanced machine monitoring and automated/semi-automated decision-making. In fact, general OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) will improve as your facility moves closer to becoming an Industry 4.0 Smart Factory.

Improved Efficiency
Multiple areas of your production line will become more efficient as a result of Industry 4.0-related technologies. Some of these efficiencies are mentioned above – less machine downtime as well as the ability to make more products and make them faster.

Other examples of improved efficiency include faster batch changeovers, automatic track and trace processes, and automated reporting. NPIs (New Product Introductions) also become more efficient as does business decision making and more.

Increased Knowledge Sharing And Collaborative Working
Traditional manufacturing plants operate in silos. Individual facilities are silos as are individual machines within a facility. This results in minimal collaboration or knowledge sharing.

Industry 4.0 technologies allow your production lines, business processes, and departments to communicate regardless of location, time zone, platform, or any other factor. This enables, for example, knowledge learned by a sensor on a machine in one plant to be disseminated throughout your organisation.

Best of all, it is possible to do this automatically, i.e. machine-to-machine and system-to-system, without any human intervention. In other words, data from one sensor can instantly make an improvement across multiple production lines located anywhere in the world.

Flexibility And Agility
The benefits of Industry 4.0 also include enhanced flexibility and agility. For example, it is easier to scale production up or down in a Smart Factory. It is also easier to introduce new products to the production line as well as creating opportunities for one-off manufacturing runs, high-mix manufacturing, and more.

Makes Compliance Easier
Complying with regulations in industries like pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing does not have to be a manual process. Instead, Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to automate compliance including track and trace, quality inspections, serialisation, data logging, and more.

Better Customer Experience
Industry 4.0 also presents opportunities to improve the service you offer to customers and enhance the customer experience. For example, with automated track and trace capabilities, you can quickly resolve problems. In addition, you will have fewer issues with product availability, product quality will improve, and you can offer customers more choice (see the point about increased profitability below).

Reduces Costs
Becoming a Smart Factory does not happen overnight, and it won’t happen on its own. To achieve it, you need to invest, so there are upfront costs. However, the cost of manufacturing at your facilities will dramatically fall as a result of Industry 4.0 technologies, i.e. automation, systems integration, data management, and more.

Primary drivers for these reduced costs include:

Better use of resources
Faster manufacturing
Less machine and production line downtime
Fewer quality issues with products
Less resource, material, and product waste
Lower overall operating costs
Creates Innovation Opportunities
Industry 4.0 technologies give you greater knowledge of the manufacturing process, supply chains, distribution chains, business performance, and even the products you manufacture. This creates opportunities to innovate, whether that is changing a business process, developing a new product, optimising a supply chain, improving OEE, and more.

Higher Revenues
Many of the above points can result in higher revenues for your production facility. For example, by fully automating your production line and implementing other Industry 4.0 technologies, you could add a new shift with minimal staffing costs to meet an uptick in demand or compete for a new contract.

Increased Profitability
You will achieve this Industry 4.0 benefit through many of the points above including higher revenues with reduced costs.

In addition, Industry 4.0 technologies enable you to produce higher quality, higher margin, and/or more innovative products. For example, Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to offer customers personalised products while still using mass production methods to make those products.

Getting A Return On Investment
Industry 4.0 technologies are transforming manufacturing across the world. The benefits of Industry 4.0 and potential return on investment are what is truly important, though. To stay competitive and equip your production lines for the future, the time to think about the next stage of your Industry 4.0 journey is now.

Mobile devices
Internet of things (IoT) platforms
Location detection technologies (electronic identification)
Advanced human-machine interfaces
Authentication and fraud detection
Smart sensors
Big analytics and advanced processes
Multilevel customer interaction and customer profiling
Augmented reality/ wearables
On-demand availability of computer system resources
Data visualization and triggered “”live”” training

Mainly these technologies can be summarized into four major components, defining the term “Industry 4.0” or “smart factory”:

Cyber-physical systems
Internet of things (IoT)
On-demand availability of computer system resources
Cognitive computing
Industry 4.0 networks a wide range of new technologies to create value. Using cyber-physical systems that monitor physical processes, a virtual copy of the physical world can be designed. Characteristics of cyber-physical systems include the ability to make decentralized decisions independently, reaching a high degree of autonomy.

The value created in Industrie 4.0, can be relied upon electronic identification, in which the smart manufacturing require set technologies to be incorporated in the manufacturing process to thus be classified as in the development path of Industrie 4.0 and no longer digitisation.