Industry 4.0 and Smart factory – A new challenge for people

corresponding

GIAMBATTISTA GRUOSSO
Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Abstract

Technology has changed the way we work, but also new ways of working favor the introduction of new technologies. The world of work is changing profoundly and requires new skills and new profiles. But above all, the fast evolution of technology throws new HR challenges for profile upgrading, talent searching, and completion of traditional study paths with new skills. In this presentation, new profiles and new challenges will be highlighted and some new methodologies will be presented for training and promotion of innovation.


The term the fourth industrial revolution is synonymous with the revival of the manufacturing sector, and it assumes different names: “Industrie 4.0” in Germany, “Industria 4.0” in Spain and Italy, Industrie du futur in France.

All of this defines a strong use of the technologies of computer science, electronic and robotic systems to boost the efficiency of production plants, but also of the product by increasing the value chain adding new services. Service as product, Internet of Things, Bigdata, ubiquitous computing, cyberphysical systems, smart sensors, and industrial Ethernet are the terms that characterize more this revolution. For some it is only an evolution of existing technology, but the backbone are not only the enabling technologies, that are ever more modern and up to date. The most is due to the revolutionary new way to use them. Industry 4.0 describes the organization of production processes based on technology and devices autonomously communicating with each other along the value chain: a model of the ‘smart’ factory of the future where computer-driven systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical wor ...