The future of industry

Humans, machines, and resources communicating with each other. Smart products that know their production process and where they will ultimately be deployed. This is Industry 4.0, the comprehensive interconnection of processes in production, logistics, and services, and it is a huge issue at practically every large manufacturer in Europe. With research from across the continent that shows how digital production has already begun to revolutionize value chains at many companies, we complied an issue of COO Insights to explore Industry 4.0 and its many facets.

In an exclusive interview with Harald Krüger, BMW Group's Chief Production Officer and future CEO, he is clearly optimistic about what human-machine interaction will bring to automobile production. Our publication also highlights where truly lucrative 3D printing niches are springing up—and takes a look at how companies can defend themselves against the downside of connectedness: cyber-attacks. Jean Botti, Chief Technology Officer of Airbus Group, explains the part played by ethical hackers in this context. We also take a trip out east to explore the importance of Industry 4.0 for China.

• What factors will set companies apart in the successful realization of Industry 4.0 models? There’s more than one key answer, and we explore a number of them in the latest edition of COO Insights.