Industry 4.0: Fundamentals and Main Challenges

Abstract

Since the first Industrial revolution, many engineers attempted to resolve problems related to operations, machinery and their maintenance, by doing so, they tried to improve the efficiency of production processes. Decades ago, due to the introduction of computers and computational methods, a new wave of solution to manufacturing related problems emerged, those provided solutions were more accurate therefore a significant boost was given to the Industries worldwide. By 2050 The Globe's population is destined to reach 9.3 Billion and different challenges and issues are adding pressure on the current industry supply chains like transport, deadlines, cost, quality etc; the term Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution originally initiated in Germany, has proven to be an attractive topic in recent literatures, A new era of change birthed and it is directly linked to the Internet of Things, Cyber Physical System, Information and Communications Technologies. As the fourth industrial revolution shapes up, human operators are at the center of the change, they experience a complexity increase in their daily routines, and they are required to be highly flexible and to adapt to a very dynamic working environment. The paper discuss the term Industry 4.0, its context, raison d’être, challenges and highlight the critical issue of the employees' driven adaptability and attitudes to change.