• FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

It goes back to the exploitation of coal and the development of the steam engine by James Watt in 1769. This will radically transform the method of manufacture. In fact, the craft industry will be replaced by mechanical production, the factories will replace the artisanal factories and workshops… In the factories, the revolution corresponds to the use of the steam engine as an engine to operate the machines allowing rates increased. This leads to more manufacturing, and gives life to products in small series.

 

 

• 2nd INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The second is brought by the use of petroleum and electricity at the end of the XIXth century. This will make it possible to modernize the means of production. The automotive and chemical industries will benefit fully. From now on, production machines are no longer “steam” but “electric”. This period corresponds to the establishment of Taylorism and line work making productive unskilled workers. We then speak of mass production of identical products.

 

 

• 3rd INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Then, a 3rd revolution took place in the middle of the 20th century with the advent of electronics, telecommunications and even computing. These different disciplines will allow the implementation of important automation that will relieve workers of the most difficult tasks. It is the beginning of robotics, the flexibility of production tools and mass production. In addition, some place this 3rd revolution a little later, at the beginning of the XXIth century. It would be based on the energy transition (renewable energies, energy-producing buildings and energy storage capacities) as well as on digital technologies. Indeed, this would have marked the end of the exploitation of fossil fuels (coal, oil, ...) and the advent of clean energy (sun, air, water). Finally, one of the important characteristics of this third revolution is the notion of mobility (of goods and people).

In summary, there was the steam engine, the electric machine, the industrial robot and now ... the cyber-connected system.

 

 

• 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Today, it is no longer a question of a means of production chain production (or rather reproducing) a product thousands of times. We have entered the era of product customization. The consumer wants a completely personalized product, which does not look like that of his neighbor. Industry 4.0 is committed to meeting this requirement for unique and personalized products while maintaining equivalent costs, despite the low production volumes generated. This is why one of the challenges of this 4th industrial revolution is to succeed in connecting the customer's need to the production organ. This connection cannot be made without the contribution of new technologies, which will have to be exploited in this “new factory”…

 

 

Source: Visiativ