Monday, February 1, 2016

The world of manufacturing is about to undergo a seismic shift. According to some, we are experiencing a fourth industrial revolution that will transform the way things are made. And the impact on workers will be huge.


ok ...What is INDUSTRY 4.0 ?

  • It is a collective term embracing a number of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies. 
  • It had been defined as 'a collective term for technologies and concepts of value chain organization' which draws together Cyber-Physical Systems, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services

Going deeper into concept ?
  • Industry 4.0 facilitates the vision and execution of a "Smart Factory". Within the modular structured Smart Factories of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. 
  • Over the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real time.
  • Via the Internet of Services, both internal and cross-organizational services are offered and utilized by participants of the value chain.

Origin of the concept  ?
  • The term "Industrie 4.0" originates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing.
  • The term was first used in 2011 at the Hannover Fair.

So how it EVOLVED ?


  • The first industrial revolution from the end of the 18th century saw the birth of manufacturing using machines powered by water and steam. 
  • The second came at the beginning of the 20th century, when mass production lines were powered by electric energy.
  • The third came with the change from analogue and mechanical production to electronic and digital technology from the 1970s onwards.
  • The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, uses smart technology and real-time data to increase productivity and reduce costs.


Ok ..why i m discussing it ?
  • ‘Industry 4.0’ was the theme this year at the annual meeting of business and government leaders in Davos (World Economic Forum !! ). 
  • Both the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank, in their annual global development reports, have focused on the impact that automation, in both manufacturing and services, is likely to have on jobs. 
  • Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is completing its flagship project to understand what technology is doing to the ‘future of work’.

Key issues in the 2016 World Economic Forum deliberated include:


  • How the Fourth Industrial Revolution will transform the healthcare sector, financial services, mobile communications, education and many other industries.
  • How mankind can leverage technology in ways to promote growth for the poor as well as the rich.
  • How breakthroughs in science and technology help solve international public health crises and complex global issues like climate change.
  • How public- and private-sector leaders can better prepare their communities and constituencies for our rapidly changing global security and geopolitical landscape. 
  • What does the latest global security picture truly look like in 2016 and beyond? And how can new technologies keep people safe from cyber attacks? 
  • How government's role in this complex, fast-moving world should be redefined to promote transparency in economic, social and environmental reform.

Some ARGUE that INDUSTRY 4.0 will be a JOB KILLER !!


  • Oxfam has released a report pointing out that, with a global trend towards increasing inequality since the 1980s, now only 62 people own as much wealth as the poorer half of the human population.
  • Inequality, technology and the need for jobs are three potent forces that are combining to shape economies and societies. 
  • Industry 4.0 is creating new forms of enterprises. It will require different patterns of skills. It will create further tensions between owners of capital (and with it, technology and machines) and workers.
  • A study released WEF see as many as 7.1 million jobs being lost in 15 developed and emerging economies, mostly in white-collar office and administrative jobs, while 2.1 million jobs will be created in computer engineering and mathematics.
  • Women will be in the firing line of the changes, one of the reasons being that they are underrepresented in the technical fields where new positions are to be created.

ISSUES kya bante dikh rahe hai INDUSTRY 4.0 model me ?

A scenario in which all work will be automated, which some proponents of Industry 4.0 envisage, is incomplete—and may not be possible. It does not explain 
  • Who will pay for the products and services that will be produced by robots and other machines. 
  • What will people be doing? 
  • How will they get incomes to pay for products and services? 
  • If they cannot pay, who will pay? 
  • If people are out of work, how will their basic needs be provided for?

Optimists kya kehte hai ?

  • Some dismiss those who worry about the impact of new technologies on jobs as Luddites. 
  • These persons remind others that ultimately the technologies feared by Luddites turned out to be beneficial overall. 
  • So will Industry 4.0, they assert. However, transitions are disruptive, and it is the pain of transitions that governments are expected to relieve.


In this scenario the question is what strategies should governments follow to enable a smoother transition, in which more jobs are produced and inequalities are reduced while technologies are adopted?

INDIA ka case lete hai ..since we are doing UPSC ....!!
  • It is not clear so far whether Make in India, Skill India and Start-Up India—the government’s flagship programmes—have factored in these challenges.
  • The conceptual architecture of these programmes is some years old. It is based on models of previous successes—of industrialization in China, skill development in Germany, start-ups in the US. Even those countries are waking up to new challenges of technology, inequality and jobs.

India will have to develop its own scenarios. Different conditions in different societies will cause the forces to play out in different ways. Therefore, a global scenario will not be sharp enough to guide any country’s actions.


Moral of the Story !!


Action is required urgently. The prime minister Narendra Modiji is leading the way. However, actions must produce the right outcomes. Scenarios will enable the country’s leaders to put their policies through a wind-tunnel, to test their efficacy in the globally turbulent conditions through which India’s aspirations must fly.



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