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Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0 and Collaborating Robotics — How Do We Cope with Societal Discourse?

16th October 2017

     

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Omron Industrial Automation  (0.07 MB)

An Appeal for Research and A Critical Reflection.

Omron Industrial Automation, Johannesburg. South Africa.

Digital transformation and associated technologies—big data, cloud services and collaborating robots in particular—are generating enormous interest in our company. Industry 4.0 will have a strong impact in the coming years on Africa/South Africa in general, especially the South African manufacturing industry. It remains a key topic in South Africa and at the Manufacturing Indaba 2017, weighted value was placed on the subject.

Scratch the surface, and behind the enthusiasm generated by the technological developments lie issues for society at large concerning the impact and effects of digital transformation.

Background

The availability of products and services that use digitized technologies has increased at breakneck speed. There are many examples available to illustrate the potential of the technology and infrastructure that provide information and intelligence on a wide scale and with reliability. In the workplace, data analysis and visualization, integrated and networked machines and collaborating human-machine dialogue are becoming established in the same way that personal computers became part of the office environment in the 1980s. From the critical perspective, this development has brought with it risks for consumers and market participants, such as data fraud and attacks by hackers.

Any consideration at all thus far of risks and opportunities for the workplace and society at large has been rudimentary and fragmented.
Society 4.0

While it is certainly the case that new technology is able to improve the standard of living of society as a whole, technology is itself responsible for less desirable developments, like environmental pollution in emerging,developing countries or rising unemployment among the low-skilled, specifically through the heavy use of automation technology. In this respect, the interplay between society, technology and science can be seen as a cycle leading to a system that exerts constant evolutionary pressure on society and technology.

“For Industry 4.0 to be fully realized in the future our primary and secondary education system will have to place an urgent and stronger focus on maths and science and the quality of its teaching. Secondly, tertiary institutions and industry need to be closely aligned regarding the curricula of the degrees and diplomas of the future to meet the industry demands of the future and dare I say some of the current tertiary qualifications don’t reflect such an alignment. This future is much closer than most think. Technology is continually developing and this at an ever-increasing faster pace. We as a nation cannot afford to be left behind, “Victor Marques, Country Manager of Omron South Africa notes.

Change in working conditions  

South African industry needs to find ways of adapting and using the technologies driving the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) to remain globally competitive, yet maintain and create jobs in a high-unemployment environment.

Industry 4.0 will influence the conditions of and requirements for employees in many areas. Driven by the application of machine-to-machine communication and an increase in the realization of autonomous systems, a scenario has arisen in which the demand for qualified production controllers and managers has increased but the demands placed on workers themselves can be reduced. How the increase in productivity is divided among workers depends crucially on social partners. The impact on the general situation of workers and unskilled labour can be positive. On the other hand, their skilled counterparts will have to come to terms with growing pressure on performance and skills.

“The world is a far more connected place with a tremendous need for data. Data that informs, assists, guides, helps, prepares and so much more. The age of “Big data” is here, the costs for storing, transmitting and receiving such big data are also lower and this trend will continue as competition and market demand increase. Indeed, innovation is but one part but the key building blocks needed to fully join this technological revolution.” Victor Marques stated. “Therefore, education remains key as does a rapidly accelerated installation of infrastructure such as Fibre country wide and in all communities coupled with cost effective access to such infrastructure. We in Africa are presented with unique challenges and opportunities. For sure our creative think tanks will have to come up with innovative solutions to fully utilise the opportunities that Industry 4.0 presents and how best to leverage these ideas to the benefit of our people.”


Discourse on the change to Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 and, more generally, the digitization of our day-to-day lives are bringing many improvements in their wake. The increased efficiency, improvements in productivity and new services that they can provide will change our society, consumer behaviour and corporate landscape. The transformation will mean that countries that promote digitization will be able to defend and build on their competitive position. Against this background, Germany must learn to cope with intense global demographic change in society and the world of work.

The change to a digital society will take place over the next 20 to 35 years. The course of growing demand for skills and training, the transformation from analogue to digital infrastructure and the adaption of fully integrated commercial ecosystems will not run smoothly. Looking at the impact of Industry 4.0 it would seem that multiple polarization lies ahead in which, depending on the combination, individuals, regions and industry will see advantages but also risks that cannot be influenced directly.

The availability of digital infrastructure, an increase in the availability of data sources and a requirement for the efficiency of services and algorithms in line with Moore’s Law are the prerequisites for the change to a digital society and Industry 4.0. From a critical perspective, however, if ubiquitous intelligence or infrastructure is not available in idealized form, cannot be used, or is consciously disregarded, then this in itself has inherent risks.

The effects of Industry 4.0 and the further use of robotics in the world of work are many and various, and are influenced by the availability of infrastructure in a company and global alignment, as well as by digital investment strategies and cooperation between social partners.

Digital transformation will require a transformation in the demand for skills. More highly skilled and top-skilled workers with an understanding of complex relationships will be required. The knowledge surrounding these relationships will become obsolete more quickly as technology continues to develop, and will have to be kept constantly up to date. The knowledge society will experience a new and greater dependency on up-to-date knowledge, while at the same time processes considered monotonous and irksome will be reduced as machines become capable of making decisions autonomously. In some cases, such a development will mean that even specialist workers will no longer be required in a production environment, and it is also possible that Industry 4.0 could bring about "technological unemployment" among both specialist personnel and their low-skilled counterparts.

Victor Marques concluded by saying that we as South Africans need to start at the grass roots, our schools helping to foster an interest in the sciences at primary and secondary level will go a long way. The career streams of IT, Computer Science and Engineering need to be the ‘STARS’ during career guidance info sessions at school. As for industry, all the relevant stake holders who aren’t in the know need to familiarise themselves with the concept of Industry 4.0 and all the possible benefits and value add that this technological revolution can bring. Integration and service providers need to ensure that they are always at the ready prepared with the relevant skills set for implementation and keeping abreast with the latest innovations.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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