Story ______ Trends of Strategies to Cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Major Countries
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Towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Conceptually describing the innovation of the manufacturing industry with the introduction of smart manufacturing systems, the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a paradigm shift in all industries resulting from the convergence of a range of achievements in ICT and the field of science and technology. In this regard, a number of countries have started strategically preparing at the national level for the prospect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This article explores the strategies adopted in major economies including Germany, the United States, and Japan for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and seeks implications to help Korea establish national strategies.
Industrie 4.0, the Trigger for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Germany’s Industrie 4.0 is a future-oriented development strategy for the manufacturing industry with an aim to create a “smart factory” based on CPS (cyber-physical systems). A number of countries are trying to benchmark this strategy for their respective manufacturing industry.
In 2011, Industrie 4.0 was adopted as one of the ten major projects of Germany’s High-Tech Strategy 2020 and has since been implemented. By introducing ICT to the manufacturing industry, the strategy aims to create smart factories that comprehensively control all processes of manufacturing, procurement, logistics, and service.
Smart factories are of significance in that they are not only tools to support efficient production, but also offer potential to innovate the existing industrial systems at a fast pace as the solutions themselves become service products. In this regard, Germany has been implementing a dual strategy to become both a leading supplier of competitive products and a pioneer to lead strategies for the solutions market.
Advanced Manufacturing to Expand Manufacturing Innovation Network and Industrial Internet
Recommended by PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), the U.S. government launched the AMP (Advanced Manufacturing Partnership) program in 2011 with a plan to invest more than USD 500 million in four major areas: national security, advanced materials, robotics, and manufacturing processes.
In 2012, the U.S. government also announced the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing prepared by the NSTC (National Science and Technology Council). This plan was designed to coordinate the federal government’s activities in supporting research and development in advanced manufacturing and to provide guidelines necessary for this effort. In 2013, the AMP 2.0 was launched to develop concrete and viable plans to ensure advancement and sustainability of the nation’s innovations in manufacturing and play a role in reconstructing the manufacturing ecosystem.
In addition to the government-driven policy programs, the U.S. government pledged to provide full cooperation and support for the Industrial Internet Consortium, an initiative created by private businesses. The Industrial Internet connects the Internet service to all industrial areas, and all industrial data generated in real time is stored in the cloud system before being analyzed and improved for greater efficiency. It is anticipated that this data-based Industrial Internet will provide higher value and spread faster once the platform is established and upgraded.
Japan Revitalization Strategy and New Robot Strategy
Following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan announced the Strategy for Rebirth of Japan in 2012 and reviewed and further developed the strategy into the Japan Revitalization Strategy, released in 2013. Robot revolution was selected as one of the ten tasks under the strategy, and the New Robot Strategy was announced in 2015 as an action plan, placing emphasis on the expansion of robot utilization in industries. In addition, the Japanese government highlights the necessity to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution revolving around the IoT, big data, and artificial intelligence, in an effort to place the nation in a favorable position for the imminent arrival of a new era through collaboration of the public and private sectors. Japan anticipates that the strategy will lead to preemptive solutions to future potential crises with far-reaching influence, such as reduction of the working population, the aging population, energy restrictions, and a decrease in population.
In particular, from a review of both Germany’s plan to lead standardization of smart factory systems and the United States’ plan to increase added value with a focus on big data, the New Robot Strategy considers both standardization and the use of big data. The Japanese government has ambitious goals to expand the robotics market two-fold in the manufacturing industry and twenty-fold in non-manufacturing industries during a five-year period by 2020 and to hold the (provisionally titled) Robot Olympic Games in 2020.
China Manufacturing 2025 for Huge Capital and Market Strategy
One of the main strategies in China’s 13th five-year plan that commenced in 2016, China Manufacturing 2025 was formulated based on Germany’s Industrie 4.0 to ensure the competitive edge of the manufacturing industry. China has grown into a manufacturing powerhouse as it has become the world’s factory with its inexpensive labor force. However, the quantitative growth through simple outsourced manufacturing unaccompanied by competitive power in product quality finally encountered a crisis due to the rising cost of labor and the growing tendency of developed economies returning to manufacturing.
To address such challenges, China Manufacturing 2025 emerged as a strategy to improve the nation’s capabilities to design and produce high-quality products and ultimately become a powerful economy specializing in manufacturing. In this context, the Chinese government established four major tasks: enhancing capacity for innovation, improving product quality, converging ICT and manufacturing, and ensuring green growth. As a means to achieve all four goals, the government also decided to take such measures as reducing governmental interference, expanding the market’s role, and opening its economy to the world.
High-Value Manufacturing Strategy to Create an Ecosystem for High-Value Manufacturing
Designed to innovate the nation’s advanced manufacturing, the High-Value Manufacturing (HVM) Strategy of the United Kingdom recognizes that high-value manufacturing is the main driving force for economic development and aims to support the vitalization of all processes of manufacturing innovation, from conceptual design to commercialization.
The strategy includes a plan to intensively invest in manufacturing areas with either strong R&D efforts or high growth potential and areas with both strengths. It also designates as strategic themes areas with high possibility to create wealth in a range of sectors, such as resource efficiency, manufacturing system, new technologies for manufacturing, development of new materials, manufacturing processes, and new business models.
In connection with the strategy, the UK government has established HVM catapult centers across the nation. With a mission to narrow the gap between basic research and commercialization research and support high-value manufacturing research, the centers perform collaborative work through a network with universities and large and small companies in the United Kingdom.
Smart Industry Strategy to Establish Smart Industry Innovation System
The Netherlands has adopted a smart industry strategy to strengthen manufacturing’s status, improve industrial productivity, create and retain jobs, and enhance the business environment.
The country perceives smart industry as a concept encompassing Innovation 4.0, Industry 4.0, and Economy 4.0 operating on the technological foundation of the IoT, big data, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and blockchains. In other words, smart industry is an industry that has high flexibility in terms of product demand, quality, timing for supply, cost, and resource efficiency; that can adjust production in line with consumer needs; and that uses the entire supply chain for value creation. In addition, the Dutch government is expected to play the role of an active partner in various areas such as setting an agenda necessary to establish smart industry, creating an industrial ecosystem that private and public sectors and academia will participate in, and implementing relevant projects.
Author: Dr. Yuna Ro (Researcher, Economics of Technology Research Group)
