As Business Consultancy Industry Manager at ICT Group, Leendert Mijnders is involved in (industrial) digital transformation on a daily basis. The technological developments in this area, ChatGPT, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), go hand in hand with the business developments at customers. The main question is who dares to take which steps and when.
5.0: two worlds that merge
To say that things are moving quickly in the market may be an understatement, but it is true. There were approximately 100 years between the 1st industrial revolution (18th century), the 2nd technological revolution (19th century) and the 3rd digital revolution (20th century). The 4th revolution came much faster (early 21st century) and the 5th has actually already started. What 5.0 adds to 4.0 is the focus on people and their environment. 4.0 focuses primarily on connectivity, artificial intelligence and machine learning: fully automated processes that make intelligent decisions based on data they collect themselves. This allows 'them', for example, to increase the quality of products and reduce the downtime of assets.
Industry 5.0 looks at the world in which this takes place. A mixed environment in which the physical world and digital world merge. The world that you observe and actively experience when you put on VR glasses. Industry 4.0 is still mainly about the software. 5.0 is about the interaction between people, technology and the environment, with sustainability being a central theme.
The value chain as a guideline
Insight into the chain of industrial processes, for example, helps us make those processes more efficient. With data and intelligent software we make maintenance predictable, we can intervene before errors or downtime occur and we limit energy consumption and waste flows, among other things. In this way we make a structural contribution to making those processes more sustainable. 4.0 is self-learning and can create smart products, but remains mainly machine-related.
At 5.0 we go one step further. We look at the entire value chain and respond interactively and automatically to (deviating) events in that chain. Consider a sudden shortage of a certain raw material, causing the price to rise and the entire chain to be confronted with higher costs. As soon as data signals this 'disruption' somewhere in the value chain, the process automatically looks for alternatives for that raw material and takes all factors into account. This also includes the transport costs or CO2 emissions of the alternative. 5.0 is based on the significance for the entire value chain and for people's experience and environment.
How do we move from 4.0 to 5.0?
What is especially important for our customers is what this means for their business and the world in which they operate. We help them gain insight into the impact and consequences, make the right choices and make technological innovations available. A lot is already possible, often much more than we can apply now. We try to reduce this to choices in costs, revenues, opportunities and what that means for the organization as a whole and locally at a factory. A 'dark factory', a fully autonomous factory, still needs maintenance people for the machines.
We can recognize signals, analyze data, draw conclusions and take actions in self-learning models. What 5.0 adds is a strong focus on sustainability, the interaction, the collaboration between these models and what people do themselves. VR, AR, MR, robots are not worlds in themselves. These are interactions with people and their environment and we are still involved in them! There are incredible amounts of data available, the technological possibilities are enormous, but it is people who choose, live and experience.
Best Digital Transformer of the Year
With that in mind, we at ICT Group try to use our knowledge and ambitions to make the world a little better, smarter and more sustainable every day. That is why we are so happy with our re-election as Best Digital Transformer of the Year, because this award shows that we are not only technologically at the forefront, but also that we understand our customers' business and prioritize the world in which we work together. to live.
Our Smart Industry Summit on June 21 in Utrecht is entirely focused on these developments and the role that digital transformation plays in them. For more information and to register, visit: https://www.ict.eu/nl/evenementen/ict-group-smart-industry-summit.
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