Industry 4.0: The Rise of Smart Technology

Have you heard of Industry 4.0? If not, we’ll tell you how it plays a role in transforming your supply chain. Discover this new opportunity!

Thanks to the advancements of technology, business operations quickly evolve to where they are today. It was almost 300 years ago when the first industrial revolution began with the mechanization through water and steam power. Fast forward to the present, we’re currently in the fourth industrial revolution in which we use high tech systems to tackle operations.

What is Industry 4.0?

Optimizing the adoption of computers from the third industrial revolution (i.e. Industry 3.0), businesses enhance the technology with data and machine learning to develop autonomous and smart systems. With essentially an entirely new technology, we’ve entered the fourth industrial revolution, otherwise known as Industry 4.0.

Industry 4.0 represents the trend in digital transformations of manufacturing systems using smart technology, like artificial intelligence (AI), to create an interconnected network of systems that drive intelligent action. These connected systems can share, communicate, and analyze information to ultimately make decisions without human involvement.

Industry 4.0 Technologies:

• AI
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Big Data & Analytics
• Machine Learning
• Cloud Computing
• Blockchain
• Automation & Robotics

If your business doesn’t use smart technology like the ones listed above, let’s see what the technology brought with Industry 4.0 can do for your business.

How Does Industry 4.0 Impact the Supply Chain?

Today, the supply chain network is moving towards a more digitized, automated, and agile operation. With the support of smart technology, the supply chain becomes more efficient and productive.

Industry 4.0 is an unavoidable trend that bridges the gap between physical industrial assets and digital technologies (I.e. cyber-physical systems). Digitization of the supply chain improves visibility and flexibility, while it reduces inefficiencies and lowers costs. Sounds like a sweet deal, right?

Digital transformation is too great an opportunity to pass up! A digital supply chain is the way of the future. So, what specifically can a smart supply chain do for you?

Industry 4.0: Supply Chain Opportunities

With the wide range of smart technology, there are many applications for Industry 4.0 to impact your supply chain operations. Of course, all businesses are unique and, therefore, can use the same technology to serve different purposes. In the end, the goal of a digital transformation is to enable autonomous decision-making and monitor connected processes in real-time.

Let’s look at some of the Industry 4.0 opportunities for your supply chain:

• Powerful predictive power for accurate demand forecasting: Traditional methods of demand forecasting are based on historical data which are not indicative of the current demand environment. Smart technology overturns this method to better reflect your current demand trends. For example, embedded sensors can collect real-time data and then, machine learning-powered software can detect patterns to reliably predict demand.
• Centralize data and processes to enhance responsiveness and collaboration: A digital transformation of your supply chain connects separated processes into a streamlined flow of information that opens even more possibilities. Cloud-based software grants greater visibility and easier access to information which enables better collaboration efforts between processes and partners, as well as proactively adjusts to changes in real-time.
• Reduce costs, time, labor, and inefficiencies in warehouses with robotics and automation: Autonomous robots are much more affordable now compared to when it was first introduced to supply chains. It seemed like only large enterprises were able to afford this technology. Now, companies of various sizes have better access to robotics and enable automation in their warehouses. Robots can independently pick products and prepare for them for shipping without human guidance which saves you labor, time, and cost.
• Gain real-time insights from carriers during last-mile delivery: Have better visibility of your shipments with smart technology as it moves through the supply chain. It’s especially important to know these insights during the last-mile delivery process. With real-time tracking with cloud-based GPS or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, you can relay this information to customers to provide value and enhance their customer experience with your company. 

There are so much more technologies of Industry 4.0 can do for you! The possibilities are endless as Industry 4.0 is still evolving.

How ShipERP Fits into Industry 4.0

Don’t know where to start with introducing technologies of Industry 4.0 into your supply chain? Look no further!

You can find many of the Industry 4.0 opportunities in multi-carrier shipping solutions. For example, ShipERP can centralize your supply chain processes into one location for you to rapidly pick, pack, and ship your products on the fly, as well as provide you with real-time carrier tracking capabilities. 

Features like automation that are enabled by technology contribute to creating a smart and intelligent supply chain. Become an intelligent supply chain with a digital transformation that implements modules like SupplierPORTAL that enhances collaboration with streamlined processes or the warehouse management solution ShipEWM that drives strong connectivity.

Don’t fall behind in Industry 4.0! The arrival of Industry 4.0 signifies a new era of supply chain management that gets rid of traditional organizational structure and framework. Companies that adopt technologies of Industry 4.0 recognize the potential to leverage opportunities in demand forecasting, centralized data, warehouse management, and last-mile delivery.

What are you waiting for?