The future of manufacturing is coming into focus as new technologies, evolving markets, and shifting priorities converge to transform the entire industry. To help you adapt, prepare, and seize an early advantage, we’ve created a series of blogs highlighting where manufacturing is heading. Check back monthly for new articles!
The Next Industrial Revolution – Industry 5.0
While many manufacturers are still implementing automation and advanced technologies as part of Industry 4.0, the next phase in manufacturing history is on the horizon—and it may look different than you expect.
Some once predicted the fully automated factory, where robots, AI, and integrated systems would handle everything without human involvement. But now that technology makes that possibility a reality, it’s becoming clear that the human-free factory isn’t as ideal as it seems, nor likely to become the model for the future.
Advanced technology certainly isn’t going away. But in Industry 5.0, neither are real people
Industry 5.0 Defined
The next era of manufacturing, called Industry 5.0, emphasizes the importance of humans and technology working in close alignment.
It recognizes the productivity, and efficiency gains possible through AI, machine learning, IoT, and many other technologies now becoming the norm. However, Industry 5.0 puts equal importance on human oversight, creativity, and decision-making. And by optimizing the relationship between man and machine, human-centric automation makes manufacturers more resilient, sustainable, innovative, ultimately leading to greater prosperity for workers, companies, and society as a whole.
Examples of Industry 5.0
What does human-centric automation look like in practice? Consider some examples:
- Technicians using augmented reality goggles and real-time dashboards to directly combine data and insights with their own judgment and expertise.
- Engineers prompting AI for help with modeling and scenario planning to enable greater levels of personalization in products and production environments.
- Managers relying on alerts and autonomous workflows to handle oversight while they focus on strategy, optimization, and innovation.
Why is Industry 5.0 Important?
Tomorrow’s manufacturing is a response to today’s challenges and opportunities. Talent shortages and skills gaps, for example, will only get worse, so Industry 5.0 emphasizes making each employee more productive yet less prone to burnout or injury. Likewise, supply chains will only get more complicated and volatile, but it will be easier to adapt in places where people and technology work dynamically together to anticipate and adapt to changing circumstances.
In that way, Industry 5.0 reflects what manufacturers can do with new technologies and mindsets, but it also reflects what manufacturers must do to remain relevant and competitive.
Starting to Embrace Industry 5.0
People are at the core of Industry 5.0—especially current and longstanding employees, with their invaluable first-hand experience—but technology plays a vital role as well. Powerful features, abundant data, and cutting-edge capabilities are important components in those tools, but flexibility, accessibility, and user-centricity matter just as much.
Emerging technologies like collaborative robots (cobots), real-time analytics, and digital twins are all good examples of Industry 5.0 in action already. Another example is Infor CloudSuite Industrial, an advanced ERP built specifically for manufacturers that empowers (not replaces) end users at every point in the production process. By integrating data sources and departments while extending information everywhere with an internet connection, Infor CloudSuite Industrial provides a foundation on top of which to build the future of manufacturing.
Get a demo along with answers to all your questions about Industry 5.0. Contact the manufacturing technology specialists at Guide Technologies for the answers.
