What is "Industry 4.0"?

--摘自《保障德国制造业的未来——关于实施工业4.0战略的建议》

Manufacturing in Germany is one of the most competitive industrial sectors in the world. This is thanks to the ability of German manufacturing to manage complex industrial production processes, with different tasks performed by partners at different locations. For nearly two or three decades, German manufacturing has successfully used information and communication technology (ICT) to manage industrial production processes - today, about 90% of industrial production processes use ICT technology. Over the past three decades or more, the IT revolution has revolutionized the world in which we live and work, with an impact comparable to that of machinery and electricity that underpinned the previous two industrial revolutions, respectively.​​

With the evolution of personal computers to smart devices, a new trend has emerged: more and more IT infrastructure and services are provided through intelligent networks (cloud computing). With the continued development of miniaturization and the Internet, this trend declares that the hoped-for ubiquitous computing has become a reality.​​

More and more powerful, autonomous microcomputers (embedded systems) are interconnected with other microcomputers and the Internet through wireless. This means that the physical and virtual worlds (cyberspace) merge in the form of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).​​

After the new Internet protocol IPv6 was launched in 2012, there are now enough IP addresses for smart devices to connect directly to the Internet through the Internet. Therefore, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services can be realized between network resources, information, objects and people. This will also extend to the industrial sector: in manufacturing, this technological evolution can be described as "fourth stage of industrialization" or "Industry 4.0".

The four stages of the industrial revolution

The process of industrialization in the 18th century began with the emergence of machinery manufacturing equipment. Back then, machines like the textile loom dramatically changed the way products were produced. After the first industrial revolution, on the basis of the division of labor, the second industrial revolution of the 20th century realized large-scale production driven by electricity. After that, the third industrial revolution from the early 1970s to the present. The third industrial revolution used electronics and information technology (IT) to increase the automation of manufacturing processes, and machines replaced a considerable part of "manual labor" and a part of "mental labor".​​

Germany should take full advantage of its position as the world's leading supplier of manufacturing equipment and its advantages in the field of embedded systems, by leveraging the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services to expand into the field of manufacturing, pre-empting the process towards the fourth stage of industrialization.​​

The deployment of Industry 4.0 will not only strengthen Germany's competitive position, but also help address global challenges (such as resource and energy efficiency) and domestic challenges (such as changing demographics).​​

However, when considering technological innovation, it is crucial to take into account the sociocultural context, as cultural and social changes are also major drivers of innovation in their respective fields.​​

Demographic changes, for example, have the potential to transform all key areas of our society, such as the way learning is organised, the nature of work, health (as people live longer) and the infrastructure of communities. This in turn will have a significant impact on German productivity. By optimizing the relationship between technological and social innovation processes, we can make an important contribution to improving the competitiveness and productivity of the German economy.​​

Leveraging the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services in Manufacturing

The Internet of Things and the Internet of Services can create a network that encompasses the entire production process, transforming the factory into a smart environment. The cyber-physical production system consists of intelligent machines, storage systems, and production equipment. The production system is digital and integrated end-to-end based on ICT technology – from inbound logistics to production, to marketing, outbound logistics and service (repair). Cyber-physical production systems not only enable production to be configured more flexibly, but also take full advantage of the opportunities offered by differentiated management and process control.​​

In addition to optimizing existing IT-based processes, Industry 4.0 will unlock the potential for more differentiated tracking of specific processes and overall effects on a global scale. These are currently difficult to achieve. Industry 4.0 will also bring closer relationships between business partners (such as suppliers and customers), employees, and provide more mutually beneficial new opportunities.​​

As the world's leading supplier of manufacturing equipment, Germany needs to tap the potential of new forms of industrialization to match its unique position. Germany's global market leaders include many "hidden champions" (i.e. small but strong companies) offering specialized solutions - 22 of the top 100 German SMEs are machinery and equipment manufacturers, 3 of which are in the top within 10 digits. Many leading figures in German machinery and equipment manufacturing believe that their main competitors are domestic manufacturers. Machinery and equipment, along with automobiles and chemicals, are one of Germany's main export products.​​

In addition, German machinery and equipment manufacturers want to maintain their leading position in the future: 60% of German machinery and equipment manufacturers believe that their technological competitive advantage will increase in the next five years, and less than 40% of manufacturers hope Maintain current competitive position.​​

However, global competition in the field of machine building is becoming increasingly fierce. While Asian counterparts are increasingly threatening German manufacturers, U.S. adversaries are taking steps to combat industrial degradation with a range of options to push ahead with “advanced manufacturing.”​​

The key to learning from Germany's Industry 4.0 is to base itself on China's reality

The four stages of the industrial revolution

The process of industrialization in the 18th century began with the emergence of machinery manufacturing equipment. Back then, machines like the textile loom dramatically changed the way products were produced. After the first industrial revolution, on the basis of the division of labor, the second industrial revolution of the 20th century realized large-scale production driven by electricity. After that, the third industrial revolution from the early 1970s to the present. The third industrial revolution used electronics and information technology (IT) to increase the automation of manufacturing processes, and machines replaced a considerable part of "manual labor" and a part of "mental labor".​​

Germany should take full advantage of its position as the world's leading supplier of manufacturing equipment and its advantages in the field of embedded systems, by leveraging the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services to expand into the field of manufacturing, pre-empting the process towards the fourth stage of industrialization.​​

The deployment of Industry 4.0 will not only strengthen Germany's competitive position, but also help address global challenges (such as resource and energy efficiency) and domestic challenges (such as changing demographics).​​

However, when considering technological innovation, it is crucial to take into account the sociocultural context, as cultural and social changes are also major drivers of innovation in their respective fields.​​

Demographic changes, for example, have the potential to transform all key areas of our society, such as the way learning is organised, the nature of work, health (as people live longer) and the infrastructure of communities. This in turn will have a significant impact on German productivity. By optimizing the relationship between technological and social innovation processes, we can make an important contribution to improving the competitiveness and productivity of the German economy.​​

Leveraging the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services in Manufacturing

The Internet of Things and the Internet of Services can create a network that encompasses the entire production process, transforming the factory into a smart environment. The cyber-physical production system consists of intelligent machines, storage systems, and production equipment. The production system is digital and integrated end-to-end based on ICT technology – from inbound logistics to production, to marketing, outbound logistics and service (repair). Cyber-physical production systems not only enable production to be configured more flexibly, but also take full advantage of the opportunities offered by differentiated management and process control.​​

In addition to optimizing existing IT-based processes, Industry 4.0 will unlock the potential for more differentiated tracking of specific processes and overall effects on a global scale. These are currently difficult to achieve. Industry 4.0 will also bring closer relationships between business partners (such as suppliers and customers), employees, and provide more mutually beneficial new opportunities.​​

As the world's leading supplier of manufacturing equipment, Germany needs to tap the potential of new forms of industrialization to match its unique position. Germany's global market leaders include many "hidden champions" (i.e. small but strong companies) offering specialized solutions - 22 of the top 100 German SMEs are machinery and equipment manufacturers, 3 of which are in the top within 10 digits. Many leading figures in German machinery and equipment manufacturing believe that their main competitors are domestic manufacturers. Machinery and equipment, along with automobiles and chemicals, are one of Germany's main export products.​​

In addition, German machinery and equipment manufacturers want to maintain their leading position in the future: 60% of German machinery and equipment manufacturers believe that their technological competitive advantage will increase in the next five years, and less than 40% of manufacturers hope Maintain current competitive position.​​

However, global competition in the field of machine building is becoming increasingly fierce. While Asian counterparts are increasingly threatening German manufacturers, U.S. adversaries are taking steps to combat industrial degradation with a range of options to push ahead with “advanced manufacturing.”

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"Through five measures of organizational guarantee, industrial policy, innovation policy, talent policy and international cooperation, a policy synergy to promote the implementation of the Industry 4.0 strategy will be formed."

"Promote the industrial Internet and intelligent manufacturing and services with the support of the industrial Internet and intelligent manufacturing standard system, the industrial Internet platform, the support system of the entire manufacturing industry chain, and the talent, education, and vocational training systems."

On March 17, on the occasion of the 2017 China Development High-level Forum, the Development Research Center of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the "National Research Center") and Bosch Group released the research report "Learning from German Industry 4.0 to Promote the Transformation and Upgrading of China's Manufacturing Industry". Industry 4.0, specific policy recommendations for promoting the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.

The above policy recommendations are based on a systematic, comprehensive, objective and in-depth study on the development status of German Industry 4.0 and China's manufacturing industry.

As Long Guoqiang, the Chinese executive director of the research project and deputy director of the National Research Center, said at the press conference on the same day: "Using the achievements of the new round of scientific and technological revolution, especially the new generation of information technology to transform and upgrade traditional industries, is the same as developing a new economy. important, even more so."

After the international financial crisis in 2008, the global economy has been in a continuous downturn. All countries, especially developed countries, are seeking to shake off the shadow of the financial crisis and reshape the momentum of economic growth. All countries have unanimously focused their strategic goals on how to use the new generation of information technology to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. For example, Germany proposed the Industry 4.0 strategy, the United States proposed the revival of manufacturing, and Japan, France, and the United Kingdom have also refocused on manufacturing. As a major manufacturing country, China is no exception.

The research project "Learning from German Industry 4.0 to Promote the Transformation and Upgrading of China's Manufacturing Industry" was born under this background.

In August 2015, the National Research Center and Bosch reached a cooperation agreement and started a research project. Li Wei, director of the National Research Center, and Denner, chairman of the Bosch Group, acted as project leaders, and the specific work was carried out by the Industrial Economic Research Department of the National Research Center and Bosch China.

Long Guoqiang emphasized that no matter what the label of German Industry 4.0 is, the revolutionary change in the mode of production it represents is a major change; China, as a major manufacturing country, ranks first in the world in terms of added value of manufacturing, and China must pay attention to its manufacturing Changes in the mode of production taking place in the field.

However, Industry 4.0 is "Germany's Industry 4.0". It is a system established according to Germany's national conditions and aims to improve the core competitiveness of German manufacturing. However, China's manufacturing industry as a whole is still in the transition stage from Industry 2.0 to Industry 3.0. There are huge differences in the degree of automation and informatization capabilities among different industries, regions and enterprises, and the level of development is uneven, which also makes Chinese manufacturing enterprises become intelligent. In the process of manufacturing transformation, there will be diversified demands. Therefore, the most important thing to learn from Industry 4.0 is to combine China's reality.

Based on this, "Learning from German Industry 4.0 to Promote the Transformation and Upgrading of China's Manufacturing Industry" proposes that the realization of China's intelligent manufacturing will be a gradual process, which can be divided into three steps: the first step (3-5 years), to make up for shortcomings and lay a foundation , expand the pilot, plastic platform; the second step (5-10 years), consolidate the foundation, improve the level, key breakthroughs, local leadership; the third step (10-15 years) innovate, surpass, re-innovate, and surpass. In this process, manufacturing automation, process management digitization, enterprise information networking and intelligent manufacturing cloudification will be gradually realized.

Dr. Schwiner, a member of the board of directors of Bosch Group, revealed that Bosch is a member of the German Industry 4.0 platform and the first European company to join the US Industrial Internet Alliance, hoping to promote the deep integration of Industry 4.0 on a global scale.

The "dual strategy" adopted by Bosch, the main advocate of German Industry 4.0, in the field of Industry 4.0 - practitioner + supplier, makes it of great significance to the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.

Previously, Bosch has piloted more than 100 Industry 4.0 projects in its more than 250 factories around the world, including 13 factories in China, covering various manufacturing fields such as auto parts, industrial technology, sensors and consumer products. In addition, with its manufacturing experience in cross-business fields and Industry 4.0 practice, Bosch has begun to provide Industry 4.0 solutions integrating software and hardware for manufacturing enterprises of different industries and scales in China. It is reported that Bosch has reached a strategic partnership with Qinchuan Machine Tool, one of the leading enterprises in the domestic machinery industry, to provide the latter's robot joint reducer production line project with an integrated solution for production line design, implementation, and informatization upgrade.

Development Research Center of the State Council/Text

What is Industry 4.0?

The Industry 4.0 described in this report is a conceptual system with the industrial and manufacturing sectors as the object and the German Industry 4.0 as the core. Industry 4.0 is a concept with rich connotations and dynamic evolution.

"Industry 4.0" was first proposed by Germany, and its core concept is to deeply apply information and communication technology, promote the integration of the physical physical world and the virtual network world, and form a "cyber-physical fusion system" in which resources, information, objects and people are interconnected in the manufacturing field. (CPS)", the strategy aims to transform the manufacturing industry to intelligence by making full use of the combination of information and communication technology and cyberspace virtual system - CPS. Industry 4.0 is accompanied by traditional industrial innovation and transformation. Its implementation process is the process of traditional industrial innovation and development, involving innovations in manufacturing technologies, products, models, formats, organizations, etc., as well as from mass production to personalized customization. Manufacturing is transformed into service-oriented manufacturing, from primary factor input to knowledge factor input, etc.

Industry 4.0 proposes a reference frame model (RAMI4.0). RAMI4.0 describes Industry 4.0 from multiple perspectives from the three dimensions of product life cycle/value chain, hierarchy and architecture level. It represents Germany's development of Industry 4.0. global thinking. With this model, various enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, can find their own position in the whole system. On this basis, the German government further put forward the strategy of "smart service to the world", the goal of which is to connect products to the Internet through the Internet of Things technology on the basis of intelligent products produced by Industry 4.0, and to apply big data and other IT technology transforms the business model of an enterprise from product-driven to data-driven, and from selling products to selling services, thereby realizing business model innovation or even revolution.

Industry 4.0 has the basic characteristics of the combination of "bottom-up" and "top-down", demand orientation, "people-centered" and large ecology. German Industry 4.0 originates from the bottom-up strategy spontaneously formed by the business community and the industry to solve the quality problems, efficiency problems and efficiency problems in the production process from the customized and personalized terminal needs. National strategy, thus forming a top-down top-level design and layered promotion of systematic optimization of organizations and mechanisms. The overall layout is coordinated by the government, with a standard structure first, promoted by leading enterprises and associations, and extensive participation by small and medium-sized enterprises. Industry 4.0 focuses on human-machine collaboration, but emphasizes people (managers, producers, employees, users) as the center. Industry 4.0 will use the new industrial platform to build a wider and larger ecosystem than before, build an ecosystem that can "grow" by itself, and achieve a wider range of resource and element allocation.

The main trend of Industry 4.0 is to realize from digital factory to smart factory, from intra-enterprise integration to inter-enterprise integration, from single closed platform to cross-industry open platform, and from productive manufacturing to service-oriented manufacturing.

The supporting system of Industry 4.0 mainly consists of a series of standard systems, Industry 4.0 platforms, digital design and lean management, as well as talents, education, vocational training, etc. Driven by the national strategy, Germany, around the Industry 4.0 framework system, is organized by Bosch, Siemens, Leading enterprises such as SAP took the lead, and small and medium-sized enterprises participated in many practical explorations of Industry 4.0.

To sum up, Industry 4.0 defined by Germany is a framework organization consisting of one information, one network, four major themes, three integrations, and eight plans. Its overall framework is very different from China's actual national conditions, but for the large but not strong Chinese manufacturing industry, there are still many experience and inspirations for China to learn from its practical exploration, such as: (1) Germany's proposed Industry 4.0 strategy is in line with its national stage. Although the current development stage of my country is different from that of Germany, the challenges and internal and external environment faced by China are partly similar to those of Germany, and it has the environment and foundation to practice Industry 4.0. (2) The platform mechanism is conducive to the development of Industry 4.0. The mature experience of the top-down promotion mechanism, platform strategy, and standard formulation can bring a lot of inspiration to our country. (3) The development of Industry 4.0 will form an ecosystem that integrates large and medium-sized enterprises, give full play to the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized enterprises, and build an ecosystem that integrates large and medium-sized enterprises to simultaneously promote Industry 4.0. It is a useful reference for my country to promote the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. (4) Industry 4.0 needs the transformation of talent structure as support, which not only pays attention to the improvement of blue-collar workers' ability and the development of human-machine coordination, but also pays more attention to the development of managers' quality and the cultivation of compound talents. (5) The advancement of Industry 4.0 is a step-by-step process. It has only been a few years since Germany proposed the “Industry 4.0” plan, and both enterprises and the government are still in a state of exploration. In the process of learning from "Industry 4.0" to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, there are still many localization problems. Now all aspects are still in the preliminary stage of exploration, and the best practices have not yet been found in the exploration. A step-by-step process.

The position of China's manufacturing industry in the coordinate system of Industry 4.0

China's manufacturing industry as a whole is in the transition stage from 2.0 to 3.0. China Informatization 100 Association and China Integration Service Alliance of Industrialization and Industrialization calculated the 2016 Made in China Informatization Index. According to estimates, China's manufacturing informatization index in 2016 was 36.9, benchmarking against Industry 4.0, and it is in the transition stage from Industry 2.0 to Industry 3.0.

China's manufacturing industry still lacks an industrial complex with strong comprehensive capabilities. Compared with developed countries such as Germany and the United States, although some leading enterprises in China have outstanding capabilities in certain aspects, they lack top enterprises or industrial complexes with various capabilities at the same time. 4.0 capabilities are still lacking.

The ability of Chinese manufacturing to advance Industry 4.0 is limited. With the in-depth adjustment of the global economic structure, China's manufacturing industry faces the dual challenges of low-end and high-end two-way extrusion. The low level of efficiency restricts the ability of these enterprises to upgrade by promoting Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing.

The informatization capabilities of the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises in China's manufacturing industry are insufficient. The development level of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is uneven, especially most small enterprises have low development level and lack the desire and ability to promote Industry 4.0 or access the platform.

China's reference to Industry 4.0 to promote manufacturing upgrades lacks systematic system support. Compared with Germany, Chinese manufacturing enterprises have been focusing on production and neglecting design for a long time, resulting in a serious backwardness in product design and lack of systematic system support, which has formed obvious constraints on the entire manufacturing process.

Ideas and Paths for Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading

In line with the development trend of digitization, intelligence, service, platformization and greenization of the global manufacturing industry, it learns from the integration concept, structured layered design, embedded information and physical system (CPS) formed in the process of promoting Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet in developed countries. Successful experience in software and hardware integration, manufacturing execution system (MES), big data analysis and operation, cloud service, platform-based support system and business model innovation, combined with the implementation of the Made in China 2025 strategy and the beneficial exploration of domestic intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration projects, The starting point is to promote the deep integration of manufacturing and digital technology in the entire life cycle and the entire industry chain, and to promote the transformation of China's manufacturing development kinetic energy and build a strong intelligent manufacturing country as the short-term and long-term foothold, in order to realize China's intelligent manufacturing industry Structural optimization and upgrading and improvement of enterprise production efficiency are the macro and micro goals, comprehensively promote the digital transformation of China's manufacturing industry, and strive to build China into a world smart manufacturing power by 2050, and a large number of global manufacturers have emerged in many emerging and traditional manufacturing sectors. A leading smart product manufacturer, smart service provider and integrated operator of industrial IoT platforms.

Macro goals (for the manufacturing industry): Learn from the concept of Industry 4.0 represented by CPS, and promote the optimization and upgrading of related technologies based on Industry 4.0, that is, through the in-depth application of related technologies of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing system, to promote the optimization of China's manufacturing structure and improvement, including sub-goals of growth drivers, value networks, digital productivity, intelligent infrastructure, big data decision-making and supervision, industrial ecological communities, and collaborative alliance platforms.

Micro-targets (for enterprises): The overall micro-targets are to apply Industry 4.0-related technologies to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises through production efficiency improvement, quality improvement, etc. It involves several sub-goals such as lean management, lean management, digital integration, demand response, data security and standards, business models, and digital talents.

Medium-level goals (for sub-sectors): ——Automobile industry: realize intelligent products, intelligent production and intelligent services to improve production agility and meet the individual needs of consumers. ——Equipment manufacturing industry: Promote the consolidation and breakthrough of the industrial knowledge system, lean production level, and industrial cloud service platform of the equipment manufacturing industry, and promote the cultivation of industrial complexes and new industrial ecology. ——Home appliance industry: Actively explore interconnected factories, shorten the R&D cycle, improve product satisfaction, improve the automation and production efficiency of factories, quickly meet the individual needs of users, and realize the intelligent transformation from large-scale manufacturing to mass customization. ——Electronic information industry: learn from Industry 4.0, improve the competitiveness of enterprises, greatly improve the ability of independent innovation, master a number of key core technologies, possess a number of independent intellectual property rights, form a number of industry standards, and form a number of worlds with global competitiveness Leading large enterprises and electronic information industry clusters; the intelligent application of electronic information industry products in various fields of society has been popularized. ——Petrochemical industry: realize product innovation, technological innovation and industrial model innovation of petrochemical intelligent manufacturing.

"Three Steps" Roadmap

The first step (3-5 years): short-term demonstration and full catch-up. The core task is to "make up for shortcomings, lay a foundation, expand pilots, and build a platform". The first is to make up for the digital shortcomings of the Industrial Internet and lay a solid foundation for software and hardware; the second is to seek key breakthroughs through pilot demonstrations; Different stakeholders such as industry, academia, society, research, and use should build a smooth information communication and interest appeal mechanism.

The second step (5-10 years): focus on breakthroughs and narrow the gap. The core mission is to "consolidate the foundation, improve the level, make key breakthroughs, and lead locally". The first is to consolidate the achievements of the first stage, and at the same time summarize the experience of pilot demonstrations, identify problems in time and find solutions. The second is to improve the level and significantly improve the application level of related technologies of Industry 4.0; the third is to significantly narrow the gap with developed countries in the fields of military-civilian integration, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, digital parks, intelligent talents, etc. Form a large number of advantageous industrial clusters, participate in international competition and strive to gain competitive advantages.

The third step (10-15 years): keep pace and surpass. The core mission is summarized as "innovation, transcendence, re-innovation and transcendence". After 20 to 30 years of exploration and accumulation, learning and transcendence, China's intelligent manufacturing level has reached the international leading level in both hardware and software aspects, and China's status as the world's intelligent manufacturing power has finally been established.

Following the general idea of ​​"practicing internal skills while seizing opportunities", strengthen top-level design and overall coordination; make breakthroughs in basic common technologies and realize the integration of key technologies; highlight demonstration applications, "point-to-face" and "line-to-face"; speed up the standard system construction; speed up the construction of a multi-level talent team; improve the level of communication infrastructure construction; carry out extensive and in-depth international cooperation; strengthen the monitoring and feedback of implementation plans.