Get set for next industrial revolution
A NEW term, Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), is now buzzing. We often hear it in the news and many industrial and government organisations are now reviewing whether they are I.R 4.0 ready.
IR 4.0 relates to the paradigm that machines are now able to autonomously adapt and coordinate their tasks to meet human needs. This is achieved through the Cyber Physical System (CPS), also called Industry 4.0, Advance Management Program, Internet of Things (IoT) or Industrial Internet.
This new paradigm marks the industrial era called Industrial Revolution 4.0 coined by Klaus Schwab in 2016.
In 1908, Henry Ford manufactured only one automobile model and painted them black to make them affordable. Buyers had no choice but to accept what was then manufactured.
Now, not only do buyers get to choose from among many models, some also get to specify the combination of features they desire before the vehicle is produced.
Communication and manufacturing technologies enable the industrial processes to effectively meet human needs speedily and in a cost effective manner.
As Schwab aptly described, we are now in an era different from that of the first three industrial revolutions!
As a nation, Germany is making a strong move through its High Technology Strategy that lists Industry 4.0 as one of 10 forwardlooking projects. In fact, the term Industry 4.0 was introduced in 2011 and was aimed at making Germany the world leader in new technologies and to be the supplier of CPS technologies.
To appraise the imperatives of IR 4.0 for Malaysia, we must first understand it. Central to IR 4.0 are highly automated and interconnected industrial production and logistic chains.
The chains are configurable based on value creation requirements through the merging of virtual and real processes in the CPS. This flexibility allows the manufacturing process to be highly efficient, takes into account the customers’ wishes in real time, and caters for large product variations.
Flexibility (due to distributed and decentralised approaches) in getting things done is the critical feature. This is made possible by the individual production unit having the necessary capability, and the formulation of a combined effort through system level optimisation rather than predetermined choices that are decided centrally.
Three imperatives could be identified for Malaysia – technical capabilities, workforce competencies and work systems. To attend to these imperatives, we should note the traditional strengths of German industry.
While continuing with traditional manufacturing activities, Germany secures market leadership in machinery manufacturing technology and globally significant IT competencies. It is a leading innovator in embedded system and automation engineering powered by its outstanding research and training capabilities. Moreover, German industries have a highly skilled and motivated workforce and are able to collaborate effectively with suppliers and users.
Malaysia still has substantial manufacturing activities but, unlike Germany, many of these involve only partial processes, especially the fabrication part of the manufacturing process. On the bright side, however, there are sectors that involve the full design-manufacturing-marketing cycle. The basic technological platforms including expertise and competencies in mechanical engineering, production engineering, process engineering, infor- mation and communication technologies and automation engineering are present in Malaysia.
These resources need to be collectively deployed on common IR 4.0 projects. Universities must introduce IR 4.0 core courses through multidisciplinary approaches. Industrial players must work together. The production of smart products through smart work systems requires vertical networking, horizontal integration and end-to-end engineering.
The imperative on workforce competencies involves human and social qualities. As machines need to be flexible, so does the workforce. In the IR 4.0 era, the nature of jobs is fluid and less workforce is required. Individual workers must, however, have higher capabilities such as higher level of IT skills, be more self-directed and equipped with good communication skills. They must also have intensive interdisciplinary thinking and be lifelong learners.
In essence, I.R 4.0 requires individuals who can think on their feet and act independently and yet work as a team. The challenge is to equip individuals with these abilities and to realign organisational values and norms to the new work content, process and environment. Diversity should be welcomed and individual strength should be celebrated.
The third and most critical imperative is on work systems. The shift from focusing on production thinking to design thinking must take place. This imperative requires the ability to exhaustively identify the requirements, forecast value-generating scenarios, and map the logical combination of activities that maximise values.
This may involve visualisation, modelling and simulation. Following this, high discipline is required to implement the design and work plan and not to easily intervene or vary the planned design and work processes.
We may be wondering where Malaysia is as far as IR 4.0 is concerned. The 1990s saw Malaysia embracing Internet technologies through the Multimedia Super Corridor Initiative. IR 4.0 could be seen as a natural progression of that. Quick success may strategically help catapult Malaysia into the IR 4.0 era.
Manufacturing of furniture makes up a sizable portion of Malaysia’s home-grown activities. We should consider implementing IR 4.0 practices in this sector. The experiences and expertise developed may be transferable to other manufacturing sectors and help ensure Malaysia transits successfully into the 4th Industrial Revolution and be among the top 20 economies in the world.