Times are changing faster than ever, and the industrial sector is in the middle of a major new technological revolution. Industry 4.0 technological leaps are already changing how manufacturing does business, and will only continue to do so in the year to come.
What’s on the horizon? What new techs and trends might be worth your attention in 2020? Here are a few expert analyses spotlighting advances that you should keep your eye on!
1. “Industrial wearable devices are rapidly gaining prevalence due to their numerous advantages.” - Research And Markets
Talk of Industry 4.0 upgrades and digital transformation tend to focus on hardware, but this eye-opening report from Research And Markets points at another transformation: the use of wearable technology by workers. Smart glasses, biometric sensors, and other wearable data sources are becoming standard-issue in many industrial settings, and that sector is expected to boom in the years ahead. Valuable business data can come from any source within your organization – even your own workers!
Of course, there’s more than one kind of wearable...
2. “Proliferating demand for wearable suits in manufacturing & construction sectors to improve productivity and reduce injuries & fatigue will escalate exoskeleton industry size.” - GM Insights
Global Market Insights highlights another up-and-coming technology that was science fiction until only very very recently: the mechanical exoskeleton. No, we’re not at the point of having full powered tech suits, but we’re getting closer every day. Already, industrial operations are making use of force-multiplying devices and passive stabilizers to make difficult work faster, easier, and safer.
They estimate that an industry that was only worth $220 million in 2018 will balloon to being worth over 3.5 billion in only eight years. It’s safe to say that this will be a major area of investment for many manufacturers in 2020 and beyond.
3. “Industries such as retail, automotive and medical are leveraging the potential of [Augmented Reality] to enhance operational efficiency.” - Market Watch
If you think augmented reality is just another gaming platform because your kids love Pokemon Go, there’s so much more to it. AR is poised to be the next major paradigm shift in personal communications and data consumption. And it’s already becoming a feature of industrial spaces, according to Market Watch, who foresee a 75% compound annual growth rate for the technology.
Construction companies are pre-visualizing structures while standing on the actual grounds to be broken. HUDs allow workers to see blueprints side-by-side with their manufacturing or assembly tasks. Bar codes can be used to trigger instructions, or warnings, directly in the worker’s field of view. The applications are nearly endless.
4. “In no other sector is artificial intelligence having more of an impact than on manufacturing, and the revolution is just beginning.” - CIO.com
The use of AI and machine learning systems in industry isn’t anything new, but it’s going to only become more prevalent and more useful, according to CIO.com. AI systems are already capable of acting as diagnosticians with accuracy as good as, or even better than, humans. AI will be a major component of all Industry 4.0 initiatives going forward, collecting data and making increasingly-accurate forecasts. Evolving systems have even begun to be deployed to iterate on product designs, finding shortcuts to cheaper or more elegant designs without the need for costly physical R&D.
To be clear, these aren’t the general purpose AIs seen in the movies. These systems are extremely narrow in scope – but increasingly, they are true experts in their fields.
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