Smart Industries (also referred to as Industry 4.0) is the move towards automation and data sharing in technologies and processes in the manufacturing industry.
Automation creates a manufacturing system where machines in factories are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors to monitor and visualise the entire production process and make autonomous decisions.
And this is where the commonly used term “digital twin” is so relevant. Digital technologies can create virtual versions of real-world assets, processes and applications. These can then be robustly tested to make cost-effective, decentralised decisions.
These virtual copies can then be created in the real world and linked together via The Internet of Things (IoT), allowing cyber-physical systems to communicate and cooperate with each other and human workers to create a real-time networked data exchange and automation process for industrial manufacturing.
The introduction of robots and smart machines that enable humans to work better and smarter is already underway and is at the beginning of what is being called Industry 5.0.
This is not only a true digital transformation, but also an area where the use of technologies that effectively merge real work with the digital world – a form of metaverse – is incredibly beneficial.