Life in the Fast Lane, so says the Eagles’ song of the same name, will make you lose your mind. And thanks to the AI revolution, we’re all living in the fast lane now. Fortunately, ‘Industry 4.0’ has ensured British manufacturing was ready for it.
According to IBM, “Industry 4.0 was the move from factories with computer-controlled machines to factories where those machines are connected and share data. It is also called the fourth industrial revolution.”
Think of it as the difference between driving a car with no dashboard and driving one that constantly tells you how it's performing and warns you before something goes wrong.
Initially a German concept, British manufacturing rapidly adopted Industry 4.0, connecting machines, people, and data to make factories smarter.
IBM gives a simple explanation: “imagine a biscuit production line: temperature sensors monitor the ovens, other systems track ingredients and packaging, and the information is brought together to help identify why a batch is inconsistent or where production is slowing down.”
Now competition is scaling. What some are already calling “the Fifth Industrial Revolution” has arrived. Rapid AI adoption is changing everything.
But the good news is – as artificial intelligence systems were already playing a major part in Industry 4.0 – British manufacturing’s ahead of the curve.
As Automation World comments, AI “vision systems are becoming more adaptable. They can recognize subtle variations in materials, patterns and defects that previously required human oversight. In industries like food and beverage, where speed and precision are critical, this technology is already making an impact.”
And, as The Guardian reports in article about food giant Nestlé, a new AI tool “has already generated an 87% reduction in edible food waste at one of the Swiss conglomerate’s factories over its first two-week trial period, is intended to ‘design out’ food waste by providing real-time monitoring, tracking and insights of wasted ingredients and products.”
Nestlé told the paper the trial had “saved 700 tonnes of quality surplus food – the equivalent of up to 1.5 million meals.” It also saved an estimated £14m in running costs.
The USA’s Manufacturing Leadership Council has said, “Without a robust data foundation, even the most sophisticated AI initiatives will fail to deliver meaningful results." In short, data slop in, data slop out. But the rigorous processes which underpinned Industry 4.0 mean that is not a trap many UK manufacturers are likely to fall into.
In many respects, 4.0 was the dress rehearsal; all-encompassing AI is the main event. The UK manufacturers that spent the last decade connecting machines and collecting data are now well placed to reap the rewards of the AI revolution. Life in the fast lane, it turns out, is not quite so scary for those companies that were already travelling at pace.