Info-Tech Research Group publishes report on future-ready factories
by CM Staff
Info-Tech advises that achieving Smart Manufacturing 5.0 requires more than just integrating advanced technologies; it demands a strategic transformation of manufacturing practices.
Info-Tech Research Group’s “Bring Your Factory to Life With Smart Manufacturing 5.0” blueprint offers actionable insights to enable manufacturers to enhance operational efficiency, improve product customization, and ensure sustainable practices. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)
TORONTO — Global manufacturers are facing increasing demands for greater efficiency, customization, and sustainability, making the integration of advanced technologies essential. The shift to Smart Manufacturing 5.0 addresses these challenges by combining the innovations of Industry 4.0 with a focus on human-centric, resilient, and sustainable practices.
While many organizations are still struggling to achieve Industry 4.0, Smart Manufacturing 5.0 tries to offer a more efficient approach to modernizing production, enhancing workforce skills, and overcoming legacy system obstacles. Info-Tech Research Group’s latest blueprint, Bring Your Factory to Life With Smart Manufacturing 5.0, provides a guide for manufacturing leaders to navigate this evolution. This blueprint offers strategies to integrate technologies and create a technologically advanced and competitive production environment.
“Throughout the evolution of industry from 1.0 to 4.0, we have seen major industrial changes that have significantly impacted the strategic decisions being made by organizations,” says Kevin Tucker, research advisory practice lead at Info-Tech Research Group. “Most manufacturing organizations have now achieved some level of implementation that includes Industry 4.0 technologies, with cloud services being the most widely adopted. Now that we are in the midst of the next evolution – Industry 5.0 and Smart Manufacturing 5.0 – integrating technology and people has become crucial.”
Info-Tech’s research highlights how Smart Manufacturing 5.0 can improve the manufacturing industry by integrating advanced technologies with human-centric practices.
“Organizations must embrace Industry 4.0 tools and technologies and begin to focus on Smart Manufacturing 5.0 if they hope to achieve exponential growth or protect their market share from competitors who are doing so,” explains Tucker. “A more rapid adoption of Smart Manufacturing 5.0 and Industry 5.0 than of Industry 4.0 is anticipated due to the widespread acceptance of the integration of AI, ML, and humans as an essential component of any successful business model that prioritizes sustainability, quality, efficiency, and the wellbeing of employees.”
In the blueprint, the firm tries to emphasize the critical role of Smart Manufacturing 5.0 in modernizing manufacturing practices.
The goal of Smart Manufacturing 5.0 is to combine the best of Industry 4.0 with the attributes of Industry 5.0, creating solutions that are cyberphysical, mass-customizable, collaborative, cognitive, and environmentally friendly. Info-Tech’s blueprint outlines the following 12 key attributes of Industry 5.0, which include human-centricity, resilience, and sustainability, integrated with Smart Manufacturing 5.0 practices:
- Autonomous Manufacturing: Leveraging AI and robotics for self-operating production systems.
- Focus on Customer Experience: Prioritizing customer satisfaction and engagement.
- Personalization of Functions and Processes: Customizing manufacturing processes to meet individual needs.
- Responsive Supply Chain: Adapting supply chains swiftly to market demands.
- Resilience to Adapt to Market Shifts: Building systems that can withstand and adapt to changes.
- Creation of a Sustainable Healthy Environment: Reducing environmental impact through sustainable practices.
- Demonstration of Exceptional Value to Society: Contributing positively to societal wellbeing.
- Quality in Craftsmanship: Ensuring high standards in product creation.
- Human-Centricity Internally and with Customers: Focusing on the wellbeing and involvement of workers and customers.
- Safe Collaborative and Cognitive Robotics: Utilizing robots that safely interact and collaborate with humans.
- Dynamic and Transparent Customization: Offering customizable solutions with clear communication.
- Interactive Decision-Making: Engaging stakeholders in the decision-making process.
Info-Tech advises that achieving Smart Manufacturing 5.0 requires more than just integrating advanced technologies; it demands a strategic transformation of manufacturing practices.
