India is stepping into the revolution of the decade - the Industry 4.0. With small steps, our country is competing with global leaders in this revolution and this has been a considerable challenge for a nation that has been depending on large-scale industries for quite some time now. But with the rise of the fourth revolution, the shift of focus is evident…

The government has been creating needful reforms for the MSME sector; large industries are coming together with small startups by funding and outsourcing operations. India has become the second-largest nation with maximum startups and this has benefited our economy on a substantial scale.

The industrial world is moving towards cyber-physical systems and this changing phase is known as the Industrial Revolution. The history of the industrial world is classified into 4 revolutions; Industry 1.0, Industry 2.0, Industry 3.0, and the ongoing one - Industry 4.0.

Sequential growth in the revolutions has resulted in huge developments from the societal side. Although the past revolutions were not focusing on the development of the micro and small-scale industries but with the initiation of the fourth revolution, the MSME sector has been catered to.

History of the Industrial Revolution

The first industrial revolution or Industry 1.0 started way back in the 17th century and since then the growth and change have been humongous. With the development of Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Virtual Reality, and cloud technology, we have stepped into a new world of cyber-physical systems with Industry 4.0.

First Industrial Revolution

With the start of steam engines and machines, the industries also took a massive leap toward steam-operated machines and replaced muscle power with steam.

Second Industrial Revolution

Industry 2.0 started soon as electric power replaced steam power and the production power increased amazingly.

Third Industrial Revolution

The third industrial revolution focused on replacing all human labor with cyber systems and this caused a sense of chaos in terms of employment and poverty. Industry 3.0 tried to eradicate the need for human intervention with machines that lacked the human touch in every operation.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Unlike the third industrial revolution, the fourth industrial revolution tries to connect the real and virtual worlds to create a cyber-physical world. The fourth revolution works on full integration for 360 management over every sector. With Artificial intelligence and Machine learning, the current industrial revolution tries to simplify operations without replacing humans.

How Can Industry 4.0 Help The MSME Sector of India?

Underemployment is a huge obstacle to growth in India but with the starting of the fourth industrial revolution, outsourcing small and non-core works became a mind-blowing opportunity for the MSME sector and the blue-collar workers.

With Just-In-Time delivery and the hyperlocal concept, the MSME sector can now focus on the quality of production and can achieve lightning fast delivery. The fourth revolution tries to shorten the whole supply chain with real-time visibility over all operations through AI-based solutions.

By adopting industry 4.0 ready solutions the MSME sector can not only have the upper hand over the whole supply chain but also can help the Indian economy in eradicating massive challenges like poverty and unemployment.