What is Industry 4.0?

Comprising a range of technologies, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), AI-driven data analytics, advanced robotics, and immersive AI, the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is truly here.

But what is Industry 4.0—and more specifically, how can it help your business?

When implemented successfully, this new type of technology offers significant benefits across your organization. That includes improved productivity, lower costs, and the ability to draw highly valuable insights from granular operational data.

Discover more about industry 4.0 and smart factory technology, what Industry 4.0 technologies mean in practice and how trusted solutions such as TeamViewer can empower you to turn the smart factory concept into reality.

In this article:

• What is the meaning of Industry 4.0?
• Are we in Industry 4.0?
• What are the advantages of Industry 4.0?
• What are challenges associated with Industry 4.0?
• How TeamViewer can help with Industry 4.0 technologies

What is the meaning of industry 4.0?

According to PwC, industry 4.0 is “the fourth industrial revolution, which connects machines, people, and physical assets into an integrated digital ecosystem that seamlessly generates, analyzes, and communicates data, and sometimes takes action based on that data without the need for human intervention”.

But what does this mean for your business?

Imagine a traditional operational environment in a sector like manufacturing or logistics. Obviously, you would expect to see a combination of industrial equipment, computers, and people within this environment. But without industry 4.0, all these elements remain distinct from one another.

Industry 4.0 interconnects these operational, digital, and human elements. For example, you might have computers embedded into industrial equipment, capturing data and receiving instructions in real time.

Meanwhile, frontline staff no longer just interact with computers or mobile devices through screens and keyboards. Industry 4.0 eliminates the gap which usually exists between physical tasks and digital processes. For instance, using augmented reality (AR) to overlay, digital information directly onto the physical world through smart glasses.

Industry 4.0 examples

Here’s an overview of key Industry 4.0 technologies, and how you can put them to work.

Industrial internet of things (IIoT)

Through embedded computers, the internet of things connects physical objects (“things”) to the internet. This allows these objects to send and receive data and tasks from each other, without the need for manual intervention.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applies this idea within industrial operations.

Sensors, monitors, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags embedded directly into production machinery, storage facilities, and vehicles, for example, can generate useful real-time data on their performance, condition, and location. If you can harness and interpret this data, you can step in early to address faults and performance anomalies, track products and inventory, avoid waste, and stay ahead of demand.

Big data and AI analytics

With Industry 4.0, data isn’t just a by-product of industrial processes. It has the potential to become one of your most valuable assets. This is particularly true if you’re using IIoT technologies, which generate vast amounts of granular data from sensors and other connected devices (also known as big data).

So how do you begin to make sense of it all? This is one of the areas of Industry 4.0 where artificial intelligence (AI) plays a key role.

Machine learning (ML) and powerful AI-driven predictive analytics solutions can capture this data in real -time, consolidate it, identify patterns, and highlight anomalies—something that would be impossible using manual data processing methods. This makes it easy to refine raw data and translate it into insights to inform your decision -making.

Advanced production methods

Robotics have long played an important role in industrial operations but were previously confined to relatively simple, repeatable tasks. However, the fourth industrial revolution is already impacting the capabilities of robots.

Traditionally, robots are programmed to perform a discrete task. When the parameters of that task change, you’d have to reprogram them accordingly.

The new generation of robots, by contrast, can act much more independently, as they’re equipped with ML capabilities, IIoT sensors that capture contextual data, and machine vision. This helps them perform more complex tasks, learning as they go and responding to their surroundings and all without having to be reprogrammed.

Are we in Industry 4.0?

Are we in Industry 4.0—and is it really accurate to refer to it as a revolution? The evidence all seems to point that way.

The first industrial revolution occurred in the late 18th century, when steam power reduced reliance on human labor. A century later, a combination of electrical power and refined oil products ushered in a second revolution in the form of the assembly line and mass production. The third revolution occurred in the middle of the last century, when computerization and early robotics enabled a much greater degree of automation in industrial processes.

In each of these cases, the changes introduced were revolutionary because they fundamentally altered how work was carried out and what could be achieved through industrial processes.
Industry 4.0 represents a further fundamental shift. And while the driving forces behind the three previous revolutions were steam, electricity, and computerization respectively, this time the key element is information.
 

What are the advantages of Industry 4.0?

Boosting productivity

The improved autonomy of advanced robotics opens the possibility of automating a much wider range of industrial activities, including advanced tasks such as precision alignment and defect identification.

Collaborative robots (cobots) in areas such as automotive assembly and precision engineering work alongside employees, augmenting their capabilities. Meanwhile, AR tools deliver real-time guidance to workers, improving the speed and accuracy of complex tasks.

These examples highlight arguably one of the biggest advantages of Industry 4.0: Practically every technology associated with it is geared towards boosting productivity, enabling you to generate more throughput with fewer errors at a lower overall cost.

Increasing business agility

Businesses across industries can anticipate future challenges and rapidly adapt to changing circumstances. One of the key advantages of Industry 4.0 is its ability to enhance agility, keeping you ahead of the curve and enabling fast, data-driven decision-making.

A prime example is predictive maintenance. By using IIoT sensors to capture real-time machine performance data, businesses can detect early signs of wear and schedule maintenance before a malfunction causes costly downtime. Similarly, if a geopolitical event forces a shift in supply chain partners, AR-assisted workflows can accelerate onboarding, ensuring teams quickly adapt to new processes with minimal disruption.

Improved collaboration and performance

Each function of your organization—whether it’s production, logistics, customer support, finance, or IT—plays a vital role in helping your business achieve its goals.
But let’s say, for instance, you want to ramp up production on a specific product line. What exactly will this mean in terms of staffing and support costs? Traditionally, when it comes to forecasting and budgeting, it can be difficult to align between different departments.

Industry 4.0 technologies can help break down these silos. For instance, IIoT devices can collect data across your supply chain, giving you a constant stream of granular information. The team can capture, store, and clean using cloud platforms, before interpreting it with the help of which AI-driven analytics.

For example, if you want to launch a new product, you can predict its impact across all departments. Industry 4.0 enables you to ask, “what if?” from a strategic, business-wide perspective and get reliable, actionable answers.

What are challenges associated with Industry 4.0?

IT management

Embracing industry 4.0 typically means deploying a wide range of embedded devices, sensors, IoT gateways, robotics, data storage services and new software. You may find that devices need to be reconfigured or moved as operational requirements change.

These pieces of equipment can also have complex lifecycles. Especially when it comes to battery and component replacement, license management, updates, decommissioning, and recycling.

For IT, successfully implementing an Industry 4.0 project offers a valuable opportunity to demonstrate your value to the wider business. However, it also means a lot of extra hardware and software elements to track and maintain.

A scalable, easy-to-use IT asset management solution can help you stay on top of everything. This allows you to discover and monitor each technical asset in your business, even thousands of IoT endpoints. And, by combining this with remote access and control capabilities, you can reconfigure any device across your business remotely, all from one central hub.

Cybersecurity

Industry 4.0 technologies tend to rely heavily on large numbers of devices continuously sharing vast amounts of data. This increase in connectivity creates more entry points for attackers. According to research by Capgemini, 79% of business leaders who have embraced Industry 4.0 initiatives think that a smart factory poses a higher cybersecurity risk than a traditional industrial environment.

You can mitigate these risks by making sure the cybersecurity measures you have in place are tailored to Industry 4.0 environments. For instance, a zero-trust architecture enforces strict access controls, ensuring that every device is authenticated before accessing critical systems. Remote device configuration and patching allow you to quickly and reliably roll out security updates to address known vulnerabilities.

Culture change

As we’ve seen, Industry 4.0 can be accurately described as a revolution. It’s a fundamental shift in how you operate and what your business is capable of. But how do you ensure that this shift is successful? One vital area to focus on is your workforce.

New processes and technologies can present a steep learning curve, even for the most experienced employees. To address this, it’s worth exploring methods that help workers adapt to these changes in an intuitive, seamless way.

Immersive AR can be a huge help here. TeamViewer Frontline displays step-by-step workflows directly within employees’ field of vision while they get on with the task at hand. This way, they can gain confidence with new processes, tailored to the activities they’re working on.

How TeamViewer can help with Industry 4.0 technologies

Trusted by global leaders in advanced industrial processes, including Audi, Toyota, Siemens, and Coca-Cola HBC, TeamViewer is designed to help you embrace new ways of operating and unlock the full potential of Industry 4.0.

TeamViewer offers a range of capabilities, including remote access and control, asset discovery and management, device monitoring, and AR features. No matter which Industry 4.0 initiative you choose to deploy, TeamViewer delivers the support, security and scalability you need to make your implementation a success.

Key capabilities

360-degree visibility across your Industry 4.0 fleet

Digital transformation through Industry 4.0 often involves deploying a vast array of operational technology (OT) and IT components scattered across multiple locations. TeamViewer’s integrated asset management and remote monitoring features help you manage, monitor, track, patch, and protect every single piece of connected machinery, IoT device, and software application from a single, easy-to-use dashboard.

Streamlined IT management and maintenance for Industry 4.0

From advanced robotics equipment to critical IoT gateways, the technical components linked to Industry 4.0 can have complex maintenance and servicing needs.

The TeamViewer dashboard helps you monitor the status and performance of your equipment in real time, from any location. Remote access and control features allow you to connect to and operate any connected device as if it was in your hands, significantly reducing the time, effort, and resources spent traveling between plants to perform checks and repairs.

On-demand scalability

TeamViewer supports multiple operating systems and platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. This enables you to manage all Industry 4.0 projects and applications from a single platform—regardless of solution vendor or underlying technology.

With cloud-based infrastructure and flexible licensing, TeamViewer makes it easy to add new devices and users when required. Whatever the next step is in your digital transformation, TeamViewer is ready to support you.