Why Quality 4.0 Will Be a Rapid Revolution
All the transformations needed to set the Quality 4.0 approach in motion seem to suggest the need for a long time to implement the approach itself. Just read our article on the necessary characteristics for Quality 4.0 and the article on the sufficient conditions.
However, it is possible to observe a series of factors that actually make the revolution in the approach to Quality much faster than one might expect.
First Speed Factor: The fourth industrial revolution will have a high impact with a much lower hardware replacement rate compared to the third. Comparing the four industrial revolutions, it is possible to see how the first, linked to the introduction of the steam engine, marked a 100% replacement rate. Unlike the second, associated with the introduction of electricity, which required the introduction of conveyor belts and transmission belts but allowed the preservation of many plants (about 10/20% replacements). The third industrial revolution led to a new wave of replacements (80/90%), thanks to the invention of modern industrial machines that can often be easily connected to each other. Today, the affirmation of cyber-physical systems in the context of the fourth industrial revolution shows a replacement rate of no more than half compared to the third, precisely in light of this longevity characteristic of the machines introduced during the previous revolution.
Second Speed Factor: The information technologies necessary for the Quality 4.0 approach are establishing themselves in the market at a very high growth rate. The pervasive intrusiveness of Big Data technologies, driven by the reduced cost of computing power, storage, and sensors, Internet of Things and Machine to Machine solutions, and Cloud technologies, is combined with the intelligence of Analytics, with ever-improving algorithms based on ever-larger amounts of data, and the disruptive novelty of human-robot collaboration, leading to a series of innovations combined with each other and with an increasingly strong impact.
Third Speed Factor: The impact of information technologies is all the stronger because they allow the entire product information flow to be reconstructed digitally throughout the production cycle. From the research, design, and development phase to procurement and then production, distribution, service, and replacement phases, many phenomena can be simulated and predicted along with their causes before they occur in real life. Mastery of these technologies evidently changes the competitive scenario for companies that adopt them, and Quality 4.0 is certainly one of the foundational aspects of the "Digital Manufacturing" approach.
In summary, not only can the Quality 4.0 approach be a driver of speed for the benefits it brings. The entire digital movement connected to Industry 4.0 technologies will drive the development of modern Quality methods in a virtuous circle that is destined to accelerate along the entire value chain.
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