The concept of Industry 5.0 is not an evolution of Industry 4.0, nor a replacement. It is a complementary approach to the digital industrial revolution. It aims to move the focus from a purely technological process to revolutionize existing industries to use technology to address the human and environmental challenges we face in the 21st century.
“The fundamentals of our lives will not change drastically in the coming 20–30 years, despite the near-constant flood of claims about superior innovations ranging from solar cells to Lithium-ion batteries, from the 3-D-printing of everything (from micro parts to entire houses) to bacteria able to synthesize gasoline.” — How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil
While enabling and deploying the latest technologies across most industries is paramount to staying competitive, more than just focusing on innovation and optimizing industrial output is required. A narrow approach to industrial output and profit is becoming increasingly untenable and fails to correctly account for the environment and the costs for society.
Europe Leads the Way to a Human-Centric Industrial Revolution
“Industry 5.0 recognizes the power of industry to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth to become a resilient provider of prosperity by making production respect the boundaries of our planet and placing the well-being of the industry worker at the center of the production process.” — European Commission position paper on Industry 5.0.
Globalization, climate change, and the production and supply-chain challenges we are experiencing now have taught us that technology alone is not the solution to address current world problems. COVID-19 has highlighted the need to re-evaluate current working methods and approaches. We must invest in automation, digitalization, and artificial intelligence while remembering sustainability and the human factor.
While it has been possible to replace a billion landlines with mobile phones within a generation, changing industries, established social interactions, and workplace challenges within a similar period will not be possible.
That’s why the European Union started a new approach based on the Industry 4.0 revolution, adding the concepts of circular economy, human-centric technology, sustainability, and resiliency.
Industry 5.0 does not distinguish between “blue-collar” and “white-collar” workers. In this regard, the lines between different types of roles, positions, and statuses of workers are blurred.
The European Union has defined a list of technologies to support the concept of Industry 5.0:
- Human-centric solutions and human-machine-interaction technologies that interconnect and combine the strengths of humans and machines.
- Bio-inspired technologies and smart materials that allow materials with embedded sensors and enhanced features while being recyclable.
- Real-time-based digital twins and simulation to model entire systems.
- Cyber-safe data transmission, storage, and analysis technologies that are able to handle data and system interoperability.
- Artificial intelligence, e.g., to detect casualties in complex, dynamic systems, leading to actionable intelligence.
- Technologies for energy efficiency and trustworthy autonomy — such as the technologies mentioned earlier — will require large amounts of energy.
While some voices argue that Europe needs to accelerate industrial automation to compete in the global market — and there is a clear European consensus and policies on investment in new technologies — forgetting the other aspects of the impact on society and the environment would be disastrous.
“Industry 5.0 is characterized by going beyond producing goods and services for profit. It shifts the focus from the shareholder value to stakeholder value and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society. It places the well-being of the worker at the center of the production process and uses new technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet. It complements the existing “Industry 4.0″ approach by specifically putting research and innovation at the service of the transition to a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient European industry.” — European Commission
Listening to the Workforce, Moving Toward a More Sustainable and Balanced Work Environment
During its 95 years of history, the Barcelona Metro has expanded many times. The current network has 123.5 km, 11 lines, and 165 stations, covering most of the city of Barcelona and its adjacent towns. Automation has been one of the main priorities from the beginning.
The relationship between the management and the unions has always been good, although there have been a few limited strikes. When new automation systems are introduced, the workers are informed well in advance. When the network is expanded, those affected take on new responsibilities, avoiding layoffs and keeping the same number of workers as the network expands.
“Most companies have abandoned the approach that previously worked so well. Instead of investing in the people — asking them for their ideas, giving them the tools to build digital solutions, allowing them freedom with digital technology — the investment is focused entirely on the technology itself,” said Industry 4.0 expert Richard Allbert, who led Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli’s digital efforts for more than 15 years. “Leverage your workforce. The irony of the ‘digital struggle’ that many non-tech companies have is that they have deep domain knowledge — they know the process and the product. This is where the ideas and innovations come from. Ask them what they need. Give them the tools. Let them develop new ideas and give them the digital solutions they need.”
“Innovation shows no signs of slowing down. [...] Now more than ever, we need to invest in the future, to overcome the economic challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis, and to establish a ‘new normal’ with a more competitive, more sustainable, and greener European industry,” said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation and Research. “We are at the beginning of this transition. Success depends on the widest possible engagement and action of all stakeholders.”
Even in a lean, digital factory, human expertise, collaboration, and intuition must be significant factors in production. Decision-making can’t be left to machines and algorithms alone. Sometimes, when companies are focusing on keeping up with technology, they don’t see the impact on their factory workers.
Management needs to recognize skilled workers who are experts in their fields and encourage all employees in the factory to freely contribute with their ideas to improve operations and their workplaces. Also, organizations should give those workers the best technological tools and include them in decision-making.
