Before we delve into what many consider the fourth industrial revolution, we will quickly review the ones that came before it.
Manufacturing has been the driver in the development of the industrial revolutions and adoption of new technology. The steam engine, the production line, and electricity changed the world. These were moments in history where the conditions were just right for technological, societal, and managerial innovations combined to disrupt the status quo and we call these the industrial revolutions. To date, there have been four.
The First Industrial revolution: mechanization & steampower
Before the first industrial revolution, the world’s economic output was relatively stable and low. Poverty was the standard, and making sure there was enough food on the table was what kept most people busy. That all changed almost 300 years ago with the advent of the steam engine and advances in machines which resulted in a productivity explosion.
At the heart of this revolution was the steam engine which was invented by James Watt and Matthew Boulton. Before the steam engine, people, animals, water, and wind provided the energy for work.
The steam engine also brought about the birth of the factory. This not only changed the way goods were made but also changed the nature of work. People became wage workers who worked by the clock.These changes still shape society as we know it.
The Second Industrial Revolution: steel, electricity, the telegraph, & the production line
Unlike the first industrial revolution, which was centered around steam power and textile manufacturing, this era was defined by inexpensive steel, electricity, and the invention of the telegraph.
With inexpensive steel came railroads, bridges, and skyscrapers. Electricity changed the distribution of mechanical power within factories and changed the number of daily work hours by allowing factories to have lighting to extend the workday. The telegraph, and later telephone, allowed information to be sent at the speed of light across vast distances.
In addition, Henry Ford’s introduction of the production assembly line made cars affordable for the average American, spurring the development of a car-centered world where distances became smaller.
During this era, the chemical industry started. Synthetic dyes and petrochemical products and chemicals like ammonia were made in large quantities which transformed the world. For example, a new process invented in 1900 made it possible to bind the nitrogen present in the air to make fertilizers that were and are used to feed the billions on earth. It is so successful that it’s estimated that 50% of the nitrogen in your body once came from a chemical reactor.
The Third Industrial Revolution: The start of the digital age
The Third Industrial Revolution marks the shift from an analog and mechanical world to an information based digital world. The birth of the PC, Internet, and mobile phones led to a world very different from the one of our grandparents.
Within the realm of manufacturing and production, the Third Industrial Revolution introduced significant technological advancements that changed how we make things and gave rise to operational technology (OT). For the first time, we didn’t have to rely on mechanical systems and people to alter the physical world. We could now program logic to dictate how the physical world should behave.
This era also saw the birth of inventions such as robotics, PLC’s (programmable logic controllers), control systems, and many more automated systems.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: better connected, more data
Building upon the advancements of the third industrial revolution – which was about ‘automating’ as much as possible – the fourth revolution is more about becoming digital and data driven in all aspects of production and maintenance processes.
The fourth revolution was propelled by introducing standard IT components into our plants, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced robotics, 3D printing, cloud and edge computing, and other emerging technologies.
This revolution is not merely defined by the current technologies but by the ways in which these technologies are integrated into the day-to-day life of process operators and technicians. Of course, introducing connected devices into our plants also comes with some downsides such as privacy and security concerns.
Coined in 2010 by the German government, the term Industry 4.0 became a synonym for digitalization in manufacturing and the fourth industrial revolution. It was initially an initiative created to support the German manufacturing Industry from strong competition coming from Asia and the USA. Other countries followed with similar initiatives, but ‘Industry 4.0’ is the name that stuck.