Manufacturing’s Technology Driven Ethical Dilemma
Whenever I’ve thought about manufacturing, I’ve always of the assembly line with workers putting together a car or a piece of machinery. I’d say that’s a pretty common imaginary view of manufacturing and how the plant floor operates. Obviously, larger factories would have more production lines. But, that’s a rather old, archaic view of manufacturing. The industry has expanded and transformed due to the associated cost pressures on the margin and the need to manufacture efficiently and effectively. To alleviate some of that pressure, some manufacturers have accepted the Industry 4.0. In doing so, they adopted a more technologically driven approach to production.
What is Industry 4.0?
Originally presented at a trade fair in Germany in 2011, Industry 4.0 is the idea that automation and robotics with IoT to transform manufacturing into what some call the ‘smart factory.’ The objective is to allow for decentralised decision making while having visibility and cyber-physical systems that monitor the production process. To achieve such an objective, manufacturers need to employ cloud computing, AI, and robots among other helpful technologies. All in all, this approach to manufacturing could be dubbed as the fourth industrial revolution. Sounds rather cool doesn’t it?
