A practical roadmap for the implementation of Industry 4.0

The phrase “Industry 4.0” has proliferated across trade, business and national press in recent years, and is largely hailed as the next industrial “revolution” of the 21st Century. There is currently a general understanding that Industry 4.0 refers to the “digitalisation” of a business’s infrastructure, but there has yet to be any consistent standards or definitions applied to what remains an arguably vague concept for businesses worldwide. For these reasons, one could be forgiven for dismissing Industry 4.0 as a confusing mess of technological jargon, digital bandwagons and futuristic hyperbole. Yet, for all the noise, what is becoming clear is that Industry 4.0 will fundamentally define how a country such as the UK does business within the next five to ten years.