The world today is nothing like it was a few hundred years ago. Over the past 250 years, we’ve experienced a wide range of inventions, advancements, concepts, and ideas that change the way we do business, manufacture products, and operate as a society.

Businesses that take advantage of these advancements are putting themselves in a position to succeed -- not just in the short-term, but over a sustained period of time. It’s the only way to ensure your employees have the tools and resources they need to do their job efficiently and effectively.

The good news is it’s becoming easier to implement these new strategies, concepts, and ideas into your daily operations. The bad news is most businesses aren’t even aware of this new way of business and ‘future of work.’ Don’t worry, that’s where we come in.

What Is Industry 4.0?

Most of us have heard of the Industrial Revolution, which happened in the mid-1700s, early-1800s. It represented the transition to mechanical processes by use of steam, water, and weaving looms. Since these processes were completed by hand prior to the revolution, productivity increased mightily during this period.

While this was the norm for nearly 100 years, a second ‘industrial revolution’ occurred in the mid-19th century. This revolution saw the introduction of electricity and assembly lines, which further increased productivity inside the workplace. Manufacturing products was easier than ever before.

The third revolution happened in the mid-20th century and featured the addition of computers, electronics, and automation. It was a new type of technology that had an endless amount of possibilities -- and still does to this day.

Despite the third revolution starting just 70 years ago, the world is starting to see the fourth revolution and it’s building off what was started in the third. It takes advantage of smart technology, data, analytics, machine learning, networks, and the internet of things (IoT).

Over time, these revolutions became known as Industry 1.0, Industry 2.0, Industry 3.0, and Industry 4.0. With the way business is constantly evolving, we’ll likely see an Industry 5.0 in no-time.

How Industry 4.0 Affects the Future of Work

Much like every other ‘industrial revolution’ we’ve encountered, Industry 4.0 comes with a wide range of benefits to the operation, workflow, and automation of your business.  

1. New Opportunities - using data and analytics, Industry 4.0 is designed to help you unlock new opportunities.
2. Logistics & Supply Chain - since transportation is such an unpredictable field, Industry 4.0 helps you react to changes on-the-fly.
3. Equipment & Vehicles - automation with the use of different equipment or vehicles helps free your employees for more important tasks.
4. Use of Robots - despite what you may think, robots are more useful than ever before and are helping to complete simple tasks that take too much time.
5. 3D Printing - although 3D-printing was once reserved for prototypes, 3D-printing today is capable of so much more.
6. IoT & Cloud - with the use of different devices that are all connected through a cloud, your employees can achieve maximum productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.
   

In a recent McKinsey future of work report, they identified two major shifts that happened due to Industry 4.0 in accordance with the benefits above. First, businesses need to upskill, which means your staff gains brand new skills. Secondly, businesses need to reskill, which means your staff takes on different roles.

Productivity and the Future of Work

The future of work is already re-shaping how we solve problems but more importantly, the amount of time it takes to be effective and monitoring said functions.

• We now have software that automates administrative tasks in the blink of an eye. Companies expect that all of this saved time in the day will be re-invested into revenue-generating activities. Old sales techniques will need to be adjusted because with more time to get the important work done, we’re able to focus on the conversation over a script. This will require a lot of creativity and innovation from your people.
• Organizations will take further steps to ensure employees have everything they need to be effective. Information will be centralized so that nobody is wasting time looking for knowledge.
• Managers will have live dashboards that display productivity metrics on individual employees and teams. These smart dashboards can also make recommendations for improving the organization. This higher-level analysis will help the managers focus only on what’s important for growth and not spend time on administrative work.
  

That’s where Tuqqi comes in. We help you embrace the future of work with our suite of tools that enhance productivity, enable creativity, increase access to knowledge between employees, and streamline the processes for easier access to knowledge throughout departments.

To learn more about how we can help your business, contact us today to speak with one of our trusted professionals!