Digitalization and Industry 4.0 Concern Everyone
Digitalization is everywhere. The achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have long since found their way into the everyday lives of almost everyone: whether it's the smartwatch that tracks our movements, assistance systems in the car that keep us on track or trigger an emergency call, the smart home that can control air conditioning and lighting, or artificial intelligence that helps formulate an email. In many companies, Industry 4.0 has ushered in nothing less than a new era: the workpiece that finds its own way through a production line has long since become more than a bold vision from a science fiction movie. All-digital production is already becoming a reality in innovative companies. Industry 4.0 is therefore a topic that concerns everyone.
Networking IT world
Networking, data, data exchange: the digital transformation affects everyone, whether at home or at work. Back in the 1990s, I started to systematize the flow of data and information on the shop floor. Together with my team, I developed the basis for digital production and won the first Industry 4.0 Award with the resulting assistance system. I want to transform people from being affected by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to becoming its shapers. In today's companies, employees with different professions, qualifications and activities often come together for meetings. Higher-level employees or managers often use foreign words that not everyone understands.
For this reason, we have developed an Industry 4.0 lexicon. The online collection explains nearly 200 terms, from A for adaptive production to W for wearables. I want to train as many employees as possible in the basics of these future terms, so that everyone can participate in the discussion and contribute ideas.
Online training
Together with Eckert Schools Digital, the digital subsidiary of Eckert Schools, the leading private continuing education company in southern Germany, we developed a special offer: a special online training course as an entry ticket to the world of Industry 4.0. The web-based training course is titled Johann Hofmann Explains Industry 4.0 the Easy Way.
The Eckert Schools Digital product provides a comprehensive insight into this new, multifaceted world. The new self-study modules are a resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the world of smart production and stay up to date.
The training series provides a step-by-step explanation of the key concepts of digitalization in a specially designed framework. The first web-based training course identifies and structures eleven key concepts. In addition to data governance and digital value, these include mobile computing, interdisciplinarity, visualization, robotics, big data, the Internet of Things, the smart world, and autonomy. Quizzes and interactive elements break up and provide feedback on the learning progress. Upon successful completion, participants receive a certificate from Eckert Schools Digital.
Change and respect
Above all, we want to reduce uncertainty and allay fears about the big concept of Industry 4.0. In companies, digital change often spires great respect from employees, but also hesitance, which often leads to the typical tactic of burying one’s head in the sand. At a time, as the half-life of professional skills is becoming shorter and shorter, companies, especially their specialists and managers, need innovative and high-quality knowledge updates that extend and deepen their skills quickly, easily and in a customized way.
Digital transformation
With this new offering, we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to keep their finger on the pulse or plan their next career move. Digitalization is here to stay, whether it is the ongoing development of artificial intelligence, even greater automation, or cyber-physical systems, which are computers that control something in the physical world.