THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
What is the Industrial Revolution?
Everybody is talking about IR 4.0, but chances are, unless you have been in the manufacturing or technology sector, you don’t really know what it means, how it affects our lives, and how it can be applied to our business. If you think that IR 4.0 doesn’t affect you or your business because it applies only to the manufacturing and IT sectors, think again, because IR 4.0 affects everybody regardless of what sector you are in, even if you are in the service industry and do not have physical products.
Let’s understand the basics first.
Things that we use every day have to be made. Be it food, cooking ingredients, fresh food need to be transported from the farms, tools like knives, scissors, blenders need to be produced. Vehicles like bicycles, cars, motorbikes, airplanes and ships, need to be manufactured. So do clothes, shoes, bag and belts. To build houses, offices and shops, piling needs to be done and wall need to be erected.
A long time ago, all these items were made by hand and therefore took time to produce. We have evolved from using sharp stones to cut things and using wood to build huts. We also used animal workers for farming and transportation. Using manual ways and labour to do work, and without tools, took time and had limited output.
Imagine if you had to make watermelon juice. Just think about having to cut a watermelon if you did not have a knife. You’d have to smash the fruit into the ground many times with an excess amount of force and you will have wastage when some of the fruit pieces get splattered across the floor. You’d have to squeeze the watermelon pieces with your hands to get the juice out. You would end up with very little and unsanitary watermelon juice.
Just as any good practice in personal life or business, having the right tools can increase our efficiency and productivity.
THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Around the 1760’s and 1780’s, the First Industrial Revolution started in Britain. Britain had ideal weather for raising sheep and from the sheep’s fur, textile like wool, linen and cotton were spun by hand using spinners and weavers. The weaving loom machine was created and they were able to produce textile much faster.
THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, large scales of production meant that factories were built, and towns became cities. Transportation carried goods and passengers as well. Electricity was already known and was made to power machines, which is more efficient than steam. The electric motor was created in 1920 and right around this time, the concept of assembly line was made famous by Ford Motors. This time was also called the technological revolution because of the mass production capabilities.
THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
In the late 20th century, around 1970s, the third industrial revolution happened with the use of electronics. Electronics is the ability to control the flow of electrons through components like resistors, diodes, capacitors and transistors. The components would be placed together as a circuit board, and eventually as integrated circuits. This enabled automation in manufacturing and increased efficiencies in manufacturing, transportation and communication.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0
Because of the shift to digital in the 1990’s, telecommunication grew rapidly and the internet was created. The internet became wireless. Wireless communication increased efficiencies as cables need not be dug underground or under the sea. Machines can communicate with each other without physical or geographical barriers. Machines can be controlled or monitored from remote locations due to wireless technology. Sensors and scanners can monitor usage of resources (people, electricity, water, parts etc.) therefore making the overall process more efficient.
So, let’s go back to the example of the watermelon juice. Imagine that the watermelon was transported to your factory. Your supplier knows when to deliver watermelons to you and in the right quantity because you and your supplier use a system. The machines in your factory are lined up to cut and squeeze the contents into a bottle, the bottles are capped and the watermelon rind are set aside to be turned into pickles. The juice bottles are packed into cartons and the cartons are placed into a refrigerated van to be transported to the shop. This whole process is monitored by a series of wireless devices equipped with chips, sensors and scanners that save a lot of time, energy and money.
