Who’s making their own clothes anymore? What happened to the horse and buggy market? Even the technology revolution from the late 20th century is getting eclipsed.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and you better get ready.
With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we’re seeing the lines blur between physical and digital realities. While we used technology to improve our lives in the Third Industrial Revolution, now technology is starting to work on us, around us, and for us in ways that aren’t always visible. But these technologies are there, impacting how we live and work – and how we interact with each other.
“There’s all these amazing new technologies, things like autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence and nanotechnology and mobile computing and all these things are really hitting at once. And companies are really transforming themselves and bringing all these new technologies in really to connect with their customers in new ways.” – Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce, speaking at the 2017 Dreamforce conference.
As with the earlier industrial revolutions, some industries and markets will die off, some will be transformed, and entirely new ones will be created. The companies that make it through the Fourth Industrial Revolution are the ones that are currently embracing the challenges and opportunities it brings.
The truth is that this revolution is so profound, we can’t predict all the challenges and risks that may come. How do we prepare our current workforces? How do we educate the next one? How will the means needed to consistently innovate align with the organizational imperative to compete at lightning speed?
Why does your business need to be prepared?
- Adopting and integrating the digital and physical technologies that exist today improves your operations and productivity and sets the foundation for future innovation and growth.
- Your competitors are getting on board. You need to stay competitive with those companies that are agile and able to leverage new technologies to scale their business.
- Companies that don’t start building the technical infrastructure and data analysis capabilities that are the lifeblood of the Fourth Industrial Revolution won’t make it through.
Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies
These are the key technologies that will empower this revolution and your business’s success:
Artificial Intelligence
Replicating human capabilities to provide faster customer service or smarter warehouse management are the tasks AI can achieve today. With AI capabilities ramping up exponentially, companies need to lay the foundation of computing power and enterprise data management.
Machine Learning
AI applications glean the insights from your data and act on them without requiring human interference. Machine learning works 24/7 to refine financial trading, monitor and respond to security intrusions and mass personalize offers to consumers at exactly the right moment.
Chatbots
Another subset of AI, chatbots rely on natural language processing to act as customer service agents, personal assistants, shopping advisors, or any role that responds to a wide variety of common questions or tasks.
Quantum computing
Quantum computing moves past the binary bits of our current computing methods to run on qubits, which can exist in more than one position at the same time. In terms of problem solving and innovating, quantum computers are the big leagues that will make supercomputers look like wiffle ball.
Internet of Things (IoT)
As devices, mechanical and digital, these technologies all connect to the Internet where they can share data and control other devices. As factories, warehouses and retail stores become connected down to each shelf, bin, and robot. Supply chain management and manufacturing will never look the same.
Blockchain
Created to support cryptocurrencies, this peer-to-peer based data model of transaction records will transform how businesses interact. By removing the need for go-between agents to mediate between parties, it can improve real-time data sharing and speed up transactions.
Industries expected to thrive in Industry 4.0
Manufacturing
From testing design processes in a virtual world to 3D printing, Industry 4.0 hits manufacturing in every phase from product design to fulfillment. Some of the key technologies required include enhanced supply chain management, smart warehouse management, robotics, and machine learning. Our work with manufacturing clients has helped them improve their forecasting to avoid the costs of limited or excess inventory, and automating quote-to-cash and order-to-cash processes, among other modernizations.
Financial Services
Machine learning has the power to do more than make smarter trades faster. It will accelerate creation of more responsive financial products and services, based on the behavior and needs of each customer – all while increasing consumer trust and reducing operating costs.
High Tech and Industrial Digitalization
High tech is the backbone of every other industry’s digital transformation. From software to semi-conductors, high tech companies need to transform their own operations, as well as their offerings. One Keste client, a provider of optical technology, increased its annual sales by $3 million after we implemented a new quoting process and secure portal around all quoting, contract pricing, and management.
Retail & Distribution
Whether B2C or B2B, sellers need to provide mass personalization and immediate fulfillment, which retailers have to provide through the blur of shortened product lifecycles and multiple points of sale. Keste has helped retailers modernize their infrastructure so they can optimize personalization and omnichannel operations. We built a flexible, scalable platform for a client seeking to improve its ecommerce to establish a global brand presence, which resulted in 20% growth in product sales.
Whatever your current stage of digital transformation, Keste is the experienced partner that can help you set the foundation for your Fourth Industrial Revolution success. Come meet us at the Oracle Modern Customer Experience event this April in Chicago. Schedule your own one-on-one Digital Day meeting where our experts review your current state and start designing your customized roadmap through this transformation.
