{"id":9937,"date":"2021-12-15T10:36:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qad.com\/blog\/?p=9937"},"modified":"2025-04-16T11:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T18:49:27","slug":"what-is-industry-40-and-how-has-it-changed-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qad.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/what-is-industry-40-and-how-has-it-changed-manufacturing","title":{"rendered":"What is Industry 4.0 and How Has It Changed Manufacturing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9938″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Industry 4.0 isn\u2019t just a buzzword. The fourth industrial revolution is officially here. We\u2019re truly in a time of significant change when it comes to how we manufacture products. The digitization of manufacturing processes have transformed production speed, cost, safety, capabilities and all-around efficiency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The need for connectedness and access to the latest insights across an entire organization has led to a manufacturing revolution focused on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning and acquiring real-time data. While every manufacturing organization is different, they all have the common goal of working faster and smarter, and Industry 4.0 technologies are helping them innovate new ways to do that every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what is Industry 4.0 all about, how is it different from existing manufacturing processes, and who can benefit from adopting these technologies? Let\u2019s start with a definition.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Industry 4.0?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A simple Industry 4.0 definition is that it\u2019s a widespread shift toward utilizing cyber-physical systems to optimize how we\u2019re able to manufacture products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first industrial revolution occurred around the turn of the 19th century. Until that time, manufacturing primarily relied on manual labor performed by people and work animals. This first revolution added more power to processes by introducing steam-powered engines and other water-driven machine tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Around a century later, factories saw a vast uptick in productivity with the onset of electricity and the use of steel. Having electricity in factories allowed for more efficiency and made machinery more mobile. It also allowed for more operating hours. It was during this second industrial revolution that concepts like mass production and assembly lines came to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the late 1950s, a third wave emerged. This phase saw more and more use of electricity to power and optimize production capabilities, which evolved into the use of computers, which then evolved into incorporating automation in manufacturing<\/a>. This huge leap saw manufacturers putting less emphasis on analog and mechanical technology and more on digital technology and automation software.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the Industry 4.0 manufacturing revolution has built off the 3.0 wave, taking the digital technology focus of recent decades to a new level. Industry 4.0 is a more comprehensive approach to manufacturing that bridges the physical and digital. These technology advancements better connect business owners to their operations, employees to other departments and solutions to problems for a level of efficiency never seen before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Industry 4.0 Technologies are Changing Manufacturing<\/span><\/h2>\n

While there are many technologies paving new paths in the <\/span>digital manufacturing<\/span><\/a> space, the following are some of the most impactful.<\/span><\/p>\n