Digitalising the manufacturing industry

Today, digital transformation is influencing every aspect of the manufacturing industry. The article explains the significant evolution of digital transformation in the same.

- Dr.Rakesh Patra

Manufacturers' business models have shifted because of Industry 4.0. The phenomenon has improved the way industries manufacture, package, and distribute their finished products. New-fangled technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and analytics, and AI and Machine Learning are becoming part of the production facilities while the business is undergoing a digital transformation. The factories are becoming smarter as they are now equipped with sensors, robots, and software that allow precision in the manufacturing process and collect data for analysis.

The evolution of digital transformation

Despite being a new concept, digital transformation has a relatively long history. The first traces of this phenomenon can be traced back to the 1970s, when the manufacturing industry was introduced to Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Following this, in 1980, the industry got Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management in the 1990s, which helped the manufacturing industry grow spontaneously. These technologies were mainly focused on enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the processes by digitising them. Moreover, the NC (numeric control) then got a new variant, the CNC (computerised numeric control), with the advent of new computing technologies.