The term Industry 4.0 is increasingly being used within the industrial sector. The name comes from a 2011 industrial plan of the German government, which set the goal of investing more in schools, energy systems, infrastructure and research institutions.

Therefore, extending the concept to its current definition, with Industry 4.0 indicates the trend towards theindustrial automation given by the integration of new production technologies within the corporate system with the aim of improving the productivity, the quality and the working conditions.

According to the MISEMinistry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, which has launched the tax credits to stimulate investment and transition 4.0, the characteristics of the industry are:

  • Connection between physical and digital systems;
  • Complex analyses using Big Data;
  • Real-time adaptations.

The MISE, in fact, in National Plan Industry 4.0has set itself a mission concerning the digitisation, l'innovation, the competitiveness, the culture and the tourism. Through the allocation of certain tax credits, the Ministry has made available 13.381 billion (plus 5.08 billion from the Supplementary Fund), to "promote the digital transformation of enterprises by incentivising, through the recognition of import credits, private investments in goods and activities to support the digitisation of processes'.

Working in Industry 4.0 requires specific competences to be able to properly manage all new processes and related information systems. The ITS course in Industry 4.0 is structured to provide its students with the necessary skills in the organisation and management of distribution logistics. Through face-to-face lectures and field placements, the course trains professionals whose goal is the enhancing the supply chaini.e. the integration of supply, production, distribution and sales chains.

How Industry 4.0 is transforming manufacturing

La positive trend of the Industry 4.0 approach did not stop even during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in 2020. Many Italian companies have started their digitisation project also thanks to state incentives from the Ministry.

Industry 4.0 is complicit in the radical transformation of the companies' production method. It has implemented a real revolution in the way products are improved and distributed to end customers, integrating new technologies into all stages of production.

New digitised companies are called smart factory which consists of three parts:

  • Smart productionnew production technologies, create collaboration between operators, machines and tools;
  • Smart serviceIT and technical infrastructure integrating systems;
  • Smart energysystems that avoid wasting energy by seeking sustainable energy.

Companies have at their disposal control systems e sensors very advanced capable of collecting huge amounts of data which, once analysed, allow the optimisation of decision-making processes. These analyses provide the tools necessary to keep production under control, exploiting predictive maintenance and minimising downtime.

Each technology, underlying the CPS, cyber-physical systems connected with computer systems, allows the decentralisation, major automation and the collaboration of systems with each other, elements at the heart of the Industry 4.0 concept.

Smart factories also favour:

  • Integration between IT, Information Technology, and IoT, Internet of ThingsExploiting interactivity for business management;
  • Customised productioneasier to produce individual batches;
  • Supply ChainThe sharing of data between manufacturers, distributors and suppliers allows for greater transparency and the possibility to curb and quickly solve certain problems that may arise.

With the fourth industrial revolution, companies enter the era of Industry 4.0 that uses high-tech devices, sensors and new business models to increase productivity, quality controls, optimise performance and reduce waste of goods, time and money.

Author of the article

ITS MOVE - Editor