Industry 4.0: Success Through Collaboration

The term “Industry 4.0” became publicly known in 2011, when representatives from business, politics, and academia supported the idea to strengthen the competitiveness of the German manufacturing industry (Kagermann, Lukas, and Wahlster, 2011). Promoters of this idea expect Industry 4.0 to be a change agent to improve different industrial processes, such as manufacturing, engineering, material usage, supply chain, and life cycle management (Kagermann, Helbig, Hellinger, and Wahlster, 2013). Since its inception, Industry 4.0 has gained tremendous interest from governments, public organizations, and private industries. The German government invested USD 200 million to spur Industry 4.0 research across government, academia, and business as part of their “high-tech strategy 2020” initiative (Zaske, 2015); the UK government committed to codevelop advance manufacturing technology standards (Addison, 2014); the U.S. government initiated the “Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition” with an investment of USD 140 million to develop new technology solutions in advanced manufacturing (Anonymous, 2016); and the Chinese government initiated a 10-year government program focusing on automation and cyber-physical systems
(CPSs) (Pardo, 2016).
Although Industry 4.0 is currently a top priority for many companies, research centers, universities, and countries, there is variation in the understanding of the term and what it encompasses. Industry 4.0 alludes to a fourth industrial revolution enabled by the following concepts: smart factories, smart services, CPSs, Internet of things, self-organization, new systems in distribution and procurement, new systems in the development of products and services, adaptation to human needs, and corporate social responsibility (Kagermann, Helbig, Hellinger, and Wahlster, 2013; Wollschlaeger, Sauter, and Jasperneite, 2017).