Our country, which could not take its place among the leading countries in the industrial revolution, is making a great effort not to miss the information and communication revolution. Industry 4.0 was voiced for the first time as the fourth industrial revolution at the Hannover Fair in Germany in 2011. The German government formed a working group on the subject, and in 2013 this working group announced the Industry 4.0 report as a strategy document.

Looking at the industrial revolutions in history, we first see machines harnessing steam power bringing about a great transformation. Then we see that the transition to mass production using electricity, together with the design of the production line, was revolutionary in nature. After that, we see the use of programmable machines with digital technology, still in use today. These three transitions are defined as the first three versions of the industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution — Industry 4.0 by its other name — is today seen as a strategic transformation, and countries are trying to manage the investments this transformation requires in the most efficient way in order to gain competitive advantage. Industry 4.0 aims to bring information technologies and industry together and to raise industrial productivity to the highest level. The rapid development in communication technologies — and especially the transition to 5G speeds — is of critical importance for the applicability of the Industry 4.0 strategy. As the use of internet-connected devices and sensors becomes more practical, the establishment of new-generation factories will also be on the agenda. In new-generation smart factories, input costs will be lower, while production capacity and product quality will be comparatively higher.

For dealers — important stakeholders in manufacturers' distribution channels — it will be a smart move to closely follow the new investments of manufacturers trying to catch the information and communication revolution we refer to as Industry 4.0, and to build their strategic plans accordingly. It should not be overlooked that brands on the road to new-generation factory-building — creating quality, productivity and cost advantages — will bring dealers a competitive advantage.

Companies that cannot keep up with the new industry will fall behind in competition and gradually disappear. While this revolution in information and communication allows a huge leap in productivity, it will also reveal the necessity of a radical change in the qualities required of the workforce. The expectation will shift toward employees working smart and producing high added value, rather than merely working hard. With Industry 4.0, new job descriptions and professional groups are expected to emerge.

The expectation that human resources will ensure the sustainability and development of high-technology systems will increase by the day. Demand for physical labor, on the other hand, will steadily decrease. Looking at this picture, it is critically important, as state policy, that the education system allow the raising of dynamic, versatile and knowledgeable human resources. In addition, it can be expected as strategic behavior that large businesses will raise the human resources to serve Industry 4.0 through the foundation schools they establish or support.

At the same time, it has become inevitable for companies to be more agile than ever. As important as it is for a business to follow and analyze the changes in its external environment well, it is just as important to put the decisions it takes into practice as fast as possible. Achieving this is closely related to the business having high operational competency.

Those steering the business must continuously follow the legal and political changes around it and position the business accordingly. Similarly, they must focus on developments in the economic sphere and closely follow technological changes and changes in social needs. In this way, managerial leaders must foresee today which struggles the business will face in the future. Undoubtedly, institutionalized businesses will always be more advantaged — because what is critical for decision support in businesses is the existence of corporate memory and a mechanism through which decisions can be implemented. To build corporate memory, it is essential to record data and turn it into information.

With the era of Industry 4.0, we know it will be possible to connect all objects to one another over the internet. This means all the objects involved in the production process joining a cloud system.

Cloud technology means all objects within the business being virtually connected to one another. At the same time, each of the internet-connected production elements joining this system generating data will create the need for very large capacity. The important point here is not so much collecting and recording this data, but analyzing it and turning it into meaningful reports. The need for super-fast computers capable of processing the large data sets called "Big Data" will be far greater than ever. At this point, developing reporting systems will also emerge as a separate field of work.

Understanding the fourth industrial revolution well and positioning their businesses for the future has become leaders' most important priority.

Author: Atakan Genç