Manufacturing as a sector helps raise our daily living standards. This sector represents 16% of the global GDP, yet operational efficiency has remained stagnant over the last decade. Innovation in manufacturing inevitably calls for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), which is long overdue.

The adoption of 4IR, independent of size and geographical location, is known to have an enormously disruptive impact on value chains and business models. While many manufacturers today have tried taking initiatives in this direction, only a handful have successfully integrated it to a scale. These manufacturers, recognized as 4IR “lighthouses,” have embraced the megatrends of technological transformation, such as connectivity, intelligence and flexible automation with optimization and minimal replacement of equipment. The general perception is that technology is taking over jobs, these lighthouses have preserved jobs and transformed human work to become less repetitive, more productive, and diversified by upskilling the existing workforce with 4IR.

Recognized by the World Economic Forum, these lighthouses demonstrate how progressive thinking has enabled greater levels of efficiency within manufacturing, thereby leading to a sizable increase in global productivity, benefitting people throughout society.

Credits: “ Fourth Industrial Revolution Beacons of Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing”. World Economic Forum, in collaboration with McKinsey. Accessed: November 20, 2020.