Welcome to Industry 4.0

  Mankind has always spent its life in a cycle of working to earn and working more to earn more. It continues to do so. But now, while working, it has also learned not to become as exhausted as the previous generation. And it continues to learn, because it has to… In exchange for the experience it gained, it crowned itself with grand names for the accomplishments it achieved, rewarding itself. The steam engine, industrial revolution, electricity, electronics, automation, information technologies, internet of things… That is how it looks from the outside; but what about when you get inside... Technically, it always thought of one thing: fierce competitive conditions. By discovering the power of water and steam, it produced mechanical systems. This was the first industrial revolution. It discovered the power of electricity and started mass production. This was the second industrial revolution. It discovered the digital world and further automated production. This was the third industrial revolution. Now we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution: Industry 4.0 That is, the combination of developing information technologies with industry. The driving force of all revolutions was the fierce competitive environment created, and it always pushed the pace of development forward and continues to do so.

The production sector, once monopolized by craftsmen, was handed over to factories when it could not compete with steam engines. Steam engines, unable to compete with the power of electricity, gave way to mass production.

The inclusion of knowledge within the system created automation, greatly reducing human error and opening a new dimension in mass production. Now mass production, together with digitalization, has transformed into an uncompetitive power. Each industrial revolution, while producing, caused a further decrease in the need for human labor compared to the previous production system. The Industry 4.0 approach, introduced in Germany in 2011 but soon attracting the attention of other developed countries (Europe and the USA), focuses on equipping production with the highest technology along with digitalization and communication. The fact that Industry 4.0 aims to minimize human labor, increase flexibility and speed in production provides advantages according to competitive conditions. However, when these objectives are achieved, the competitive advantage held by East Asian countries with cheap labor will be eliminated.

Industry 4.0 is based on the application of service-based new business models to production, using artificial intelligence, big data, augmented reality, internet of things, cloud computing, and cyber security technologies. Their reflection in production is "smart factories" or "dark factories."

In other words, all devices in the production network communicate with each other, deciding exactly what they need to do, implementing it and reporting it. According to Internet World Stats data from December 2017, 4.15 billion people worldwide use the internet, which is the communication platform through which people access and share information. With "Internet of Things" (IoT), which is the communication between smart sensors, mobile devices and all other devices that can be connected to the internet, it is predicted that the number of devices to be connected to the internet will exceed 20 billion within three years. Lower-cost, less energy-consuming hardware and software that consumes fewer resources to run this hardware, systems that can communicate with all devices on earth (Cyber-Physical Systems) bring advantages in the production process: better monitoring and reporting of the system, higher efficiency, lower costs, flexibility and resource savings.

However, changes in how work is done and processes in production, complete automation with most tasks being carried out without human touch, and the possibility of manual workers becoming unemployed bring threats along with them.

However, this can be transformed into an opportunity through the production of strategies and policies aimed at developing new skills, abilities and competencies according to the conditions that will emerge. Especially for our country, which has resources such as a young population, taking steps now will prepare us for this fourth industrial revolution, which we feel growing day by day. Germany, one of the locomotive countries of Industry 4.0, is ahead of other countries with hardware technologies, and the USA with software products. In our country, companies that have grasped the importance of the matter have taken action and drawn roadmaps to turn it into an opportunity. One of these companies is İZAYDAŞ, Turkey's first hazardous waste disposal facility and a subsidiary of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality… As a reflection of its experience in the sector into the field, it has renewed its automation system and achieved innovation through enterprise resource planning. By controlling all processes in the facility with the SCADA system, it has actively implemented the basic processes of ERP. In the near future, it aims to integrate all its field processes with basic processes in ERP. İZAYDAŞ has proven itself to be a close follower of global developments in Industry 4.0 through the quality policies it implements, its renewed automation system, continuously updated information technologies and awareness. In conclusion; mankind has increasingly preferred to have machines do the communication it cannot establish among itself. Knowledge is power, if you know how to use it, welcome to Industry 4.0… Burhan Mertoğlu - Electrical Engineer Information Technologies Manager İZAYDAŞ