Industry 4.0 is labeled as the fourth industrial revolution. Each of these revolutions has been triggered by technological innovation. The technical innovation that drove the 1st Industrial Revolution, at the end of thr 18th century, was the introduction of water and steam-powered mechanical manufacturing. The 2nd Revolution was driven by electric-powered mass production and the division of labor. The continued automation of manufacturing through Information Technology and advancements in electronics inspired the 3rd Revolution.

Industry 4.0 is more of a vision, than a specific definition, but it can be broadly defines as “the current trend toward automation and data exchange in manufacturing.” The main concepts of Industry 4.0, based on the “Industrie 4.0 Working Group,” are: the creation of the Smart Factory, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

A few of the technologies that will play a large role in Industry 4.0 are the internet itself, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Big Data Analytics. However, Indutrsy 4.0 goes well beyond these three technologies. Data volumes have skyrocketed because of the technological advances. Improved computational power, improved connectivity, new powerful wide area networks, and RFID have all contributed to this vast rise in data volumes. The list of technologies that are contributing to Industry 4.0 are rapidly expanding.

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