The fourth industrial revolution and the term “Industry 5.0” – a critique by the Research Council Industrie 4.0 and the Plattform Industrie 4.0
Munich, 22 April 2024
The Research Council Industrie 4.0 and the Plattform Industrie 4.0 criticise the use of the term “Industry 5.0”. Industry 4.0 was presented to the general public for the first time at the Hannover Messe 2011 with an industrial model that is still highly topical and is spreading worldwide. The Research Council Industrie 4.0 and the Plattform Industrie 4.0 criticise the unfounded and unnecessary use of the term “Industry 5.0”, which contains no new content and contributes to uncertainty. Industrie 4.0 stands for the fourth industrial revolution and its ongoing transformation, which encompasses all areas of society.
The term “Industry 5.0” has been used more frequently recently to focus on “human-centricity”, among other things. However, according to the Research Council Industrie 4.0 and the Plattform Industrie 4.0, the term Industrie 4.0 has always had the benefit for society as its most important goal. In addition, the term Industrie 4.0 stands for the fourth industrial revolution, which, like all previous revolutions, will take a long time to be fully realised. This includes people making use of new technologies and value creation models. The typical software abbreviation “4.0” symbolises the importance of software in this process but should not be understood merely as a version number and replaced by “5.0”.
The fourth industrial revolution – i.e. Industrie 4.0 – encompasses a wide range of aspects. The content that is currently being discussed as Industry 5.0 is fully covered by the existing terminology. There is therefore a risk that the unnecessary term will lead to confusion.
Peter Liggesmeyer (Fraunhofer IESE), spokesperson science of the Research Council Industrie 4.0
Small and medium-sized companies are by now also aware of the importance of Industrie 4.0. Implementation is already underway. These companies are confused and unsettled by the term Industry 5.0. We must avoid losing momentum on their way to Industrie 4.0 as a result.
Harald Schöning (Software AG), spokesperson industry of the Research Council Industrie 4.0
Our mission is the scaling and broad implementation of the principles of Industrie 4.0. We can only achieve this goal through the committed participation of SMEs. The discussion about Industry 5.0 is not only misleading, but also endangers the fundamental acceptance and participation of this key group. Central topics such as how work is carried out, human-centred approaches and the development and integration of (generative) AI are already being thoroughly addressed in the Industrie 4.0 working groups. A change would only cause unnecessary irritations and therefore makes no sense.
Henrik Schunk (Schunk GmbH & Co. KG), chairman of the Steering Body of the Plattform Industrie 4.0
The full statement “The fourth industrial revolution and “Industry 5.0″ – a critique” can be found attached.
About the Research Council Industrie 4.0
As a strategic and independent body, the Research Council Industrie 4.0 makes a significant contribution to identifying research-based solutions for the further development and implementation of Industrie 4.0 and thus providing guidance – with the overarching goal of strengthening the German innovation system and value creation. To this end, the Research Council currently brings together 33 representatives from science and industry with their interdisciplinary expertise, formulates new, pre-competitive research impulses and needs, identifies medium to long-term development perspectives and derives options for action for the successful implementation of Industrie 4.0. Research in the field of Industrie 4.0 is increasingly focussing on topics such as sustainability, resilience, interoperability, technological and strategic sovereignty and the central role of people. The work of the Research Council is coordinated by acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
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