Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet, and smart manufacturing are often confused. Here is a simple explanation of their concepts and their relationship.
1. Industry 4.0 emphasizes the intelligentization of the production process.
Industry 4.0 , jointly initiated by the German Academy of Engineering, the Fraunhofer Society, Siemens, and others, is one of the ten national future projects included in the German government's "High-Tech Strategy 2020. " Its core is the fourth industrial revolution led by intelligent manufacturing. This strategy aims to create smart factories through the full integration of information networks and industrial production systems, achieving horizontal integration among enterprises in the value chain, vertical integration of networked manufacturing systems, and end-to-end digital integration of engineering, thereby improving the utilization rate of industrial resources and realizing highly personalized and intelligent flexible production.
Therefore, we find that Industry 4.0 , as a production revolution, focuses more on how to achieve intelligent production processes through the organic integration of production systems, thereby improving production efficiency.
2. The Industrial Internet places greater emphasis on intelligent services based on data assets.
The core of the Industrial Internet is based on the Internet of Things (IoT), which connects machines with built-in sensors and complex software with other machines and people to collect, transmit, process and provide feedback on real-time data. Data is then extracted and analyzed in depth to explore the potential of production or service systems in terms of performance improvement and quality enhancement, thereby improving and optimizing the efficiency of production resources.
Although both the Industrial Internet and Industry 4.0 aim to optimize resources and improve efficiency, their focuses differ. The Industrial Internet is based on the intelligent management of production equipment using IoT, the Internet, and big data. On this basis, it aims to form an open and global industrial network and fully integrate industry and the Internet at all stages of the industrial chain, including design, R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and service. In the intelligent manufacturing industry system, it emphasizes the design and service aspects.
3. Intelligent manufacturing is the core driving force for both.
"Made in China 2025 " explicitly states that the deep integration of new-generation information technology and manufacturing should be the main focus, with intelligent manufacturing as the primary direction. Whether it's the United States with its "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership," the United Kingdom with its "Industry 4.0 Strategy" and "Industry 2050 Strategy," or South Korea with its "Manufacturing Innovation 3.0 Plan," all have identified developing intelligent manufacturing as a key measure for building their competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector. Clearly, intelligent manufacturing is an important means and method for achieving industrial upgrading and transformation, and its understanding is largely based on a technological perspective.
Intelligent manufacturing is based on modern sensing technology, network technology, automation technology and artificial intelligence. It realizes the intelligentization of product design process, manufacturing process and enterprise management and services through perception, human-computer interaction, decision-making, execution and feedback. It is the deep integration of information technology and manufacturing technology.
