The ballad of John Henry ‘the railroad worker’ speaks about man’s race to halt the takeover of machines or robots within the factory floor. The folklore pits a steam drilling machine against John Henry, the steel-driving man, who believed he could eclipse the work rate of an inanimate robot. The tale ends with John Henry besting the machine but losing his life due to exhaustion.
While it is improbable that a human could best a robot in accomplishing a repetitive task, John Henry’s folklore highlights one important factor; the importance of the human touch. The steel-driver drilled holes and cleared the drilled spaces to ensure railroad pins fit while the steam machine simply drilled its holes and moved on to the next task. This is where Industry 5. 0 and the plan to increase human participation alongside machines and within the smart factory come into play.
Although Industry 4.0 and the smart factory is still very much the goal for most manufacturers and industry stakeholders, the request for more specialized products from end-users is expected to be the creative spark needed to ignite Industry 5.0. The “lights out” factory of Industry 4.0 is a concept where industrial automation rules while human operators are relegated to the background. Automation improves efficiency, reduces waste and, improves the quality of throughput a factory produces but it has its limitations.
One such limitation is its ability to produce custom goods that meet the aesthetic or practical requirements of individual consumers. The need for customization is one reason why large auto manufacturing enterprises such as Mercedes-Benz rely on a process that supports the application of smart technologies and the human touch to create innovative automobiles for customers looking for something different.
The Concept of Industry 5.0
The emergence of Industry 4.0 came with clear business models and concepts for its implementation across the factory floor. These business models or concepts included predictive maintenance, data-driven plant performance optimization, and virtual validation strategies which ensured factory owners could implement Industry 4.0 strategies within the shop floor. Thus, it is only fair or right to expect Industry 5.0 to have its core business models to ease its implementation.
Today, no set business models or implementation concepts for Industry 5. 0 currently exists. The lack of an implementation strategy may be due to today’s focus on achieving and realizing the benefits of Industry 4.0 which is expected to improve global productivity by as much as 10%. Despite the lack of defining concepts around Industry 5.0, some projections on the role of technology and humans, as well as, what to expect from the 5th industrial revolution can be made and here are our projections.
Improved Accountability and Transparency in Manufacturing – The merger of digitalization and the human touch will improve manufacturing transparency as digital technologies will provide the time stamps needed to pinpoint failures and determine what went wrong. The near real-time insight and predictive analysis digital technologies such as the digital twin provide ensures mistakes can be predicted and eliminated thus leading to reduction in the number of product recalls manufacturers will be forced to make in the future.
Iterative Manufacturing Processes – Industry 5.0 is expected to take digital manufacturing to its next level through the use of technologies such as the digital twin. The ability to predict future occurrences while assisting machines and humans in taking real-time decisions will become part of the iterative manufacturing process.
One example is relying on Digital Twin and scheduling software technology as a black box of sorts to track failures and automatically provide scheduling and operational solutions that ensure manufacturing continues despite recorded failures. Thus, if a machine fails, scheduling software like Simio records that failure, iteratively reschedules the production plan and sends the updated schedule back to the functional machines thus ensuring production continues without experiencing considerable downtime.
Increased Service Levels – The satisfaction consumers gain from a product generally plays an important role in determining if the consumer becomes a reoccurring customer through the years. The integration of customized services or products through the human touch Industry 5.0 proposes is expected to lead to increased service levels, more customer fulfillment, and revenue growth for manufacturers.
Conclusion
Industry 5. 0 is all about merging human effort alongside industrial automation to provide individualized products to a consumer population demanding more customization. The coming decades are expected to witness engineers and think-tank groups develop workable frameworks that ensure Industry 5.0 becomes a reality.