The Fourth Industrial Revolution brought innovative technologies. The next step is using them for the good of people and the planet.
Prior industrial revolutions have for the most part been about machines. Technological advancements have allowed for higher rates of production and more efficiency. They made people’s lives easier, but it was tech that was the focus. Industry 5.0 is a response to those that seek to add humanity back into the equation, along with ESG considerations. It seeks to marry automation, data analysis, and IoT innovations with human ingenuity, resilience, and sustainability. It’s about how humans and technology can work together to ensure smart factories keep getting smarter.
Working Together
Digitization in manufacturing has advanced rapidly, with changes that might have taken 10-15 years occurring in the span of three. The same pandemic forces that prompted this have also brought a rethinking of the role people play in these processes. Industry 5.0 emphasizes the necessity of collaboration between machines and humans to maximize the potential of both. Cobots can perform repetitive tasks that might cause humans injury, either from handling hazardous materials or from repetitive stress. Kept safer and given more free time, skilled humans can focus their attention on more high-level problems that require innovative solutions.
“The aim of Industry 5.0 is to create a harmonious work environment where humans and machines work together to achieve higher productivity, innovation, and customization,” wrote Dr. Amr van den Adel of the Auckland University of Technology in the Journal of Cloud Computing. “The collaborative nature of Industry 5.0 allows for agile and flexible manufacturing processes, making it easier to adapt to changing market demands and optimize resource allocation.”
With Humans at the Center
This human-machine collaboration will certainly improve efficiency and productivity levels. But there’s more than that to Industry 5.0.
“Digitalization of industry based solely on productivity improvement is not sufficient,” Sean O’Reagain, deputy head of Industry 5.0 for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation, said at this year’s IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona. “We are talking about a shift from a tech-driven to a human-centric approach, which … sees the worker as an investment and not just a cost, and looks to apply technologies which enhance their capacity and creativity as active players in the process.”
This approach values the contributions of technology as well as the skills and input of the people operating it, working alongside it, and developing ever-better versions of it. It allows them to utilize their creative talents better, creating manufacturing and logistics jobs that are more attractive to top talent and make firms more likely to keep them.
Given the rapid adoption of digitalization and automation, Industry 5.0’s human-centric focus also allows people to get comfortable with new technologies and accept that the machines are not out for their jobs.
Sustainable and Resilient
It’s up to people to figure out how to use the technological advancements of Industry 4.0 to make manufacturing more sustainable and resilient, two other pillars of Industry 5.0. It endeavors to answer the question, “How can we make the growth possible by making new technology sustainable?” That means producing more while being good stewards of the earth. Machine learning, digital twins, AR/VR, and other tools can help manufacturers reduce waste and make better decisions in real time. This decreases the number of mistakes that cause organizations to use more resources. They can invest in R&D that creates things like more energy-efficient batteries or ways to incorporate renewables into their operations.
“I think what’s important is that digital technologies are used in a way that companies no longer think about it in terms of not doing the bad things, but rather making a positive contribution to sustainability, by using digitalization to improve the production processes,” O’Reagain said.
Going hand-in-hand with sustainability is resiliency. The pandemic and climate change have underscored the importance of having a backup plan and being able to pivot to it quickly. With the enhanced supply chain visibility and nimbleness that Industry 4.0 tools can bring, organizations can not only ensure continuous operations for themselves but for workers who might otherwise face the prospect of lost livelihoods should factories shut for extended periods.
“We have seen the fragility of such things and how that leads to major disruption,” Manish Kumar, co-founder of the Industry 4.0/5.0 Institute at the University of Cincinnati, told BedTimes Magazine. “So, resilience of these technologies individually, as well as when they are combined to be used in more complex systems, is critical.”
Is Industry 4.0 Over?
Not at all. Manufacturers are just scratching the surface of what AI, automation, and other Industry 4.0 tech can do. The aim of Industry 5.0 is to direct that technology toward particular goals. Industry 5.0 is a complement to Industry 4.0, not a replacement.
“Industry 5.0 is not a revolution,” O’Reagain said. “It takes (Industry 4.0) ideas forward. It puts workers center-stage by making the process more inclusive, and by using technology to address challenges of resilience and sustainability. It is about recognizing the power of industry to go beyond the workfloor – to provide growth and prosperity for our economy and society, while respecting planetary boundaries and ensuring the well-being of workers.”
Rather than an end to Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0 envisions a way to get the most out of machines and people.
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