The initial three industrial revolutions have had a significant impact on human existence and commerce, resulting in a period of prosperity.

The fourth industrial revolution, commonly denoted as IR4.0 or Industry 4.0, is poised to bring about significant transformations in the industrial sectors. According to Anthopoulos (2019), Industry 4.0 pertains to the utilization of a range of digital advancements, including but not limited to artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing, advanced sensors, the internet of things, and smartphone compatibility, in the realm of manufacturing.

The focal point for the realization of Industry 4.0 principles is the incorporation of cyber-physical systems (CPS) (Chen, 2017). The concept of cyber-physical systems was introduced by Helen Gill from the US National Science Foundation with the aim of promoting investigation into the interplay between physical systems and computing systems. CPS are tangible entities that possess integrated sensors, processors, and actuators, that can be programmed to either receive or transmit information to and from computers. The system exhibits feedback loops with physical objects, which impact computational procedures and enhance the adaptability, resiliency, scalability, and security of said physical objects. CPS have been found to have a broad range of applications in various fields such as manufacturing systems, medical control, monitoring systems, military systems, traffic control, security, power generation, distribution, and other related areas.

The utilization of interconnected physical objects in CPS is on the rise with the advent of advanced sensors, improved data acquisition systems, and faster communication networks. This trend is a significant aspect of Industry 4.0, as it enables the continuous generation of substantial amounts of data. According to Zhang et al. (2021) research, a single machine has the capacity to produce a vast amount of production and health monitoring data, which can amount to several trillion records annually. The utilization of large-scale data in the context of CPS presents significant opportunities for enhancing operational efficiency, minimizing interruptions, and improving overall performance and output.
According to Oks et al. (2017), there is significant application potential for CPS in the industrial domain. According to Colombo et al. (2017), the utilization of these technologies facilitates the achievement of various use cases such as real-time monitoring and control of systems and processes, predictive maintenance, and the enhancement of human-machine collaboration. Consequently, this leads to the optimization of production, products, and services with improved effectiveness and efficiency.

According to Bresnahan (2010), the utilization of CPS in various application domains, including industry, renders it a general purpose technology. CPS undergoes continuous evaluation from various angles, such as technological (hardware, software, architectures, information systems, etc.), process-oriented (applications, procedures, operations, etc.), organizational (value creation, cost-benefit considerations, business models, etc.), sociotechnical (human-computer interaction (HCI), work design, etc.), and other perspectives (Geisberger & Broy, 2015).

It is anticipated that CPS will become ubiquitous across all industrial sectors, as part of the Industry 4.0 framework. CPSs (cyber-physical systems) will introduce novel production methodologies that will likely become the norm for the industry in the future. The implementation of self-configuring, self-adjusting, and self-optimizing production environments is expected to result in increased agility, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.

References

Anthopoulos, L. (2019). Smart city emergence: Cases from around the world. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Bresnahan, T. (2010). General purpose technologies. In K. J. Arrow & M. D. Intriligator (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of innovation (Vol. 2, pp. 761–791). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0169-7218(10)02002-2
Chen, H. (2017). Theoretical foundations for cyber-physical systems: A literature review. Journal of Industrial Integration and Management, 2(3), 1750013–1750027. https://doi.org/10.1142/ S2424862217500130.
Colombo, A. W., Karnouskos, S., Kaynak, O., Shi, Y., & Yin, S. (2017). Industrial cyber physical systems: A backbone of the fourth industrial revolution. IEEE Industrial
Electronics Magazine, 11(1), 6–16. https://doi.org/10.1109/MIE.2017.2648857
Geisberger, E., & Broy, M. (2015). Living in a networked world: Integrated research agenda, cyber-physical systems (AgendaCPS) (Acatech Study)
Oks, S. J., Fritzsche, A., & Möslein, K. M. (2017). An application map for industrial cyber-physical systems. In S. Jeschke, C. Brecher, H. Song, & D. B. Rawat (Eds.), Industrial Internet of Things: Cybermanufacturing Systems (pp. 21–46). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42559-7_2
Zhang, C., Chen, Y., Chen, H., & Chong, D. (2021). Industry 4.0 and its implementation: A
review. Information Systems Frontiers, 1-11.