Industry 4.0 and the digital transformation journey

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is upon us and our leaders are reimagining what our industrial world should look like. We are embracing more and more automation, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the quest for productivity and safety. The industry talks of social responsibility and sustainability, and these drivers are changing the world in which we work and the ways we interact. Although physical changes (new equipment, systems and tools) are relatively easy to fathom, the social impact is not. Traditional business services, execution and operational models are changing or even disappearing, and methods of interaction are equally diverse. This paper explores the roles we play, will play and must play as we look to the future. Business execution, business operation and the support it requires are transitioning. We operate facilities remotely, see failures before they happen and interact with the virtual world to better understand the real one. These present new and exciting opportunities with different skills and approaches to traditional industry. How we effect this transformation in the social world is just as important to the success of Industry 4.0 as the technology revolution. The complex mix of physical, digital and social interplay in delivering the safety and productivity vision of the shiny future is reviewed from the personal standpoint. Because, although the rise of Industry 4.0 is upon us, it is the people who will make it successful.