Innovation through Industry 4.0 – Driving Economic Growth and Building Skills for Better Jobs
Mirela Panait, Răzvan Ionescu, Independent researcher, Ploiesti, Romania, Simona Andreea Apostu, Mile Vasić
Abstract
Novel technologies are quickly reshaping the industrial environment as well as the labor market in what has been called The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. As digitalization and robotization quickly become industry standards in many fields of manufacturing, businesses, both big and small companies need to quickly adapt their strategies, workforce and operations to this new reality in order to remain competitive and relevant. Being able to adopt and integrate new technologies quickly will make the difference between being a trend setter or a follower in an increasingly more globalized and more digitalized economy. And there are not just the businesses that need to adapt to this rapid change. The workers themselves will be required to master new skills and be able to operate new machines quickly and proficiently or risk being replaced by one in the near future. This paper aims to look at the new, emerging technologies in the industrial sector, their rate of adoption and their impact on workers, production processes and businesses.