IMPACT

Manufacturing

With most of manufacturers outsourcing to other countries for financial reasons, the fourth industrial revolution will see a smarter, automated factory. This initiative will be driven by decentralised machines and an increase in Digital-to-Physical Transfer, or 3-D printing. Armed with this new technology, a new car can go from concept to customer in six times the speed, and as the technology proliferates, this is only bound to become faster.

Vertical integration will also see factories Employees in factories will also benefit from interactive technologies that will increase productivity and minimise human error. The vertical sharing of data throughout a business will result in greater operational efficiency, as well as a boost in the logistical aspect of enterprise supply.

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Agriculture

Finding a way to increase profit under increasingly tight resource constraints is a major challenge in the agriculture industry. In order to maximise yield, precision farming is set to dominate the industry. Satellites inform farmers in real time of plant status and soil condition, which eliminates the risk of crop failure.

New technology in weather monitoring means that rainfall and adverse weather conditions can be anticipated and addressed with minimal human input. Irrigation drones can provide each crop with the exact nutrients required for the highest yields possible for minimal cost in a fraction of the time. These advancements mean that farmers will benefit from lower operating costs and larger profit margins, which will improve overall quality of life in rural areas.

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Healthcare

Healthcare will benefit greatly from the digitalisation of business, with service, efficiency and quality all likely to improve drastically. The proliferation of big data and analytics means that individualised care can be provided for all patients, leading to improved doctor-patient interaction throughout the industry. Automated machines for procedures such as sonograms or cancer screening are also expected to be introduced, and this lighter strain on hospital staff leads to a more efficient division of labour.

Finally, customers in the healthcare industry will enjoy greater quality in precision surgeries. Neurosurgery currently boasts a success rate of 60%, but technology such as frameless stereotaxy or Interventional MRI (which both allow for surgeons to benefit from increased precision inside the brain) could see four out of five patients emerge from brain surgery with no complications and a drastically lower risk of infection.

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Smart Cities

Infrastructure is expected to see significant development due to the introduction of IIoT, with a rising global population demanding an efficient, thriving city that can support millions of people effectively. Not only will smart cities benefit the economic and infrastructural development of a city, smart cities will see an improvement in environmental health.

Smart cities will also be able to ensure a safer living environment for its citizens. City systems now will have the ability to analyse big data in order to determine where crimes are most likely to occur, and will scramble law enforcement to these areas of high crime.

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Education

With IIoT taking a stronger hold on other sectors in human existence, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will put a magnifying glass to current learning processes, in order to understand how we learn and to improve our capacity to innovate.

New, innovative learning analytics will change the way that we teach the younger generation. In conjunction with educational data mining, learning institutions will be able to collect data which can be analysed for context and opportunity for improvement, to help to integrate personalised education for the fulfilment of potential.

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Energy

Energy management, as well as the methods of supply, are expected to see the largest changes thanks to Industry 4.0. Increased precision in oil and carbon sequestration techniques. New digital tools are helping transform the business models, leveraging new technologies to massively enhance the energy and chemical industries with real-time monitoring and relevant data to make business critical decisions.

With the convergence of data, machines and analytics, the skills and talent in the industry is also evolving in this new landscape. Energy supply is also due to benefit, with improved technology within the Smart Grid allowing for real-time reaction to energy demands throughout cities and towns.

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Interoperability

Industry 4.0 will be characterized by businesses establishing global networks that incorporate their machinery, warehousing systems and production facilities in the shape of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). This company-wide network is part of a concept known as the Internet of Things (IoT), and will be comprised of smart machines, storage systems and production facilities.

They are capable of working together to ensure operation at maximum efficiency and minimum wastage, analysing data to trigger actions and work interdependently of one another.

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Virtualisation

Virtualisation involves the construction of realistic images that will assist in providing higher quality. By linking sensor data with virtual plant models and simulation models, employees can benefit from a wider understanding of complex processes.

Maintenance needs can be identified, production errors and bottlenecks can be pinpointed, and quality can be assessed earlier, minimising the need for human intervention.
Employees can react more quickly to errors or anomalies to minimise maintenance times and improve efficiency.

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Work In Real Time

Industry 4.0 will change the way we process data, with big data and advanced analytics allowing for highly precise information in a number of new metrics. These changes mean that potential problems can be anticipated or fixed at a much faster rate, and will result in increased yields and gross margin by up to 30%, with production costs and development time to drastically fall.

Vertical integration throughout a company means that all departments of a business are in constant communication, and feedback and adaption can occur without any delay or interruption of operation.

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Modularity

The Industrial Internet of Things will usher in a new level of artificial intelligence. With constant improvements in robotics and user interfaces as well as a wide range of easily-accessed data, smart factories will be able to analyse large amounts of information and construct production metrics to suit demands or anticipate problems.

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Decentralisation

One of the main initiatives of Industry 4.0 is the emergence of factories with high amounts of automation, minimizing risk within a business and repurposing the workforce. These “Smart Factories” currently consist of a number of machines with minimal human interaction, but further changes are expected with the Fourth Industrial revolution.

Soon, components of a factory will act independently of one another, whereas previously they were reliant on a central computer system. This empowerment of machines within Smart Factories should drive up efficiency and productivity.

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Customer Service

Customers are expected to gain the most from the projected changes to industry. A digitised supply chain means that products will be faster to market, and leaner businesses will ensure an efficient division of labour and record-low risk across the company.

Innovations will be easier to conceive and will be quicker to market, and the consumer base will have better access to expert knowledge and industry know-how.

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