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Industry 4.0 presents transformation for African manufacturing sector

CAPITAL IMPACT
The ultimate concern is how African manufacturers can capitalise on Industry 4.0 while simultaneously mitigating the accompanying risks

CAPITAL IMPACT The ultimate concern is how African manufacturers can capitalise on Industry 4.0 while simultaneously mitigating the accompanying risks

14th June 2019

     

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The Manufacturing Indaba 2019 is set to explore the impact on, and opportunities associated with disruptive and revolutionary technologies that are transforming the global manufacturing sector.

Despite its status as a developing continent, Africa’s manufacturing space stands to reap significant benefits from Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Industry 4.0 represents the complete digitalisation of factories and manufacturing facilities that will ultimately merge with the unique needs of individual customers, resulting in benefits such as customised product design, manufacturing processes and final delivery to maximise customer satisfaction levels.

Further, Industry 4.0 brings with it a multitude of other benefits for industrialists such as cost, productivity, profitability and operations that manufacturers are striving to control, streamline, optimise or enhance. Similarly, these opportunities extend to small and medium-sized businesses enabling them to establish new business models and assimilate into international value chains.

The Manufacturing Indaba 2019 intends to explore how governments should extend their investment beyond infrastructure and into the education and upskilling of Africa’s youth and existing workforces, so that they are empowered to use digital capabilities to the continent’s benefit. Routine task jobs previously performed by semiskilled and unskilled workers are being replaced by the power and intellectual capacity of computers.

This has consequently caused concern for the job security of these workers, who must either acclimatise to these new jobs or be admitted to other positions or sectors. To reconcile this unease, it is critical that the governments and private sector jointly action steps with businesses and industries to revise the core training of employees by upskilling and reskilling the African workforce to keep abreast of these developments.

Further, transformation of aspects relating to human resources will increasingly result in employees monitoring ongoing plant performance as analytics and algorithms lead to the sequential functioning of machines. Industry 4.0 will also offer greater levels of safety to manufacturing facilities. People are limited in the duties they can perform in hazardous environments, whereas machines provide higher levels of competence in such situations, thereby reducing the number of workplace accidents.

By promoting industrial safety, automated machinery enables producers to decrease worker medical claims, reduces downtime, and saves on long-term capital expenses.

In addition, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives are set to empower rural and small business owners in Africa, whereby advanced data analytics available to them on their smartphones can promote greater collaboration among stakeholders along the entire value chain.

Further, access to connectivity and this form of enterprise software development, will support their daily operations through acceptance of digital payments and gaining insights into their customers so they can develop relevant marketing strategies in accordance with data collected. This essentially places them on a more level playing field with larger, more established businesses that have the capital to access this data via costly in-house teams of software developers.

In addition, it enables small business owners the opportunity to apply for bank loans, as they have irrefutable evidence of their revenue and cash flow statistics.

These radical transformations in the African manufacturing space will be assimilated into the entire supply chain, thereby optimising processes and activities, and, ultimately, promoting efficiency and innovation for years to come. By successfully integrating Industry 4.0 and IoT into their systems, existing and prospective industry players can expect to reap even greater revenue and profit from their investment.

However, capitalising on these opportunities necessitates that policymakers take heed of the multitude of obstacles confronting the continent with regard to the revolution at hand. The ultimate concern is how African manufacturers can capitalise on Industry 4.0 while simultaneously mitigating the accompanying risks. It stands to reason that the continent should embrace digitalisation by managing the associated challenges with relevant solutions provided by the technology available.

This year’s Manufacturing Indaba 2019 aims to better acquaint Africa’s promising manufacturing sector with the revolutionary Industry 4.0 and its related principles. The event will enable attendees to get a taste of the exciting developments in this arena by connecting trade visitors with influential speakers who have expert knowledge on this subject matter.

Participants within the sector will discover how to efficiently apply these ground-breaking techniques to their industrial facilities, allowing them the opportunity to increase profitability and place themselves in prime positions to secure other competitive advantages made available through the implementation of these techniques.

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

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