Fast-moving economies will be able to take advantage of Industry 4.0 techniques as their need to operate at faster rates capitalises on new technologies to drive efficiencies.

The fourth revolution in manufacturing techniques following mechanisation, electrification and electronics, has been widely touted by myriad companies looking to marry automation and robotisation with human expertise.

Some – particularly labour organisations – have expressed disquiet the move could lead to job implications – fears equally voiced at the time of the first industrial revolution in nineteenth-century England – but it appears the concept is gathering unstoppable momentum.

“Rapidly developing economies need to be capable of operating at double speed,” said Grammer Systems Serbia general manager, Pierluigi Ghione at the recent CEE European Automotive Forum organised by Adam Smith Conferences in Prague.

“Industry 4.0 is simply making the machine talk to the people and people understanding what they say. A lot of people talk about 4.O: there is no human, we go home, we lose our jobs, [but] 4.0 is impacting on a different way.

“Compared to the third revolution there is a high replacement of machines [and] we need to be intelligent and smart. The human is where the value opportunity is and craftsmanship.

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“We talk about social responsibility – if you don’t have jobs for people then you won’t have customers. Industry 4.0 – is it a risk or an opportunity? We are in transition, changing from analogue to digital.”

That view was echoed earlier in the year by Renault, which is enthusiastically embracing 4.0 techniques at its Valldolid plant in northern Spain, with the automaker saying it had received the backing of unions for the new practices, which have resulted in extra recruitment.

“We are hiring now in France, [we are] heavily investing in robots and they [staff] can see we are hiring,” said Renault digital transformation VP, manufacturing and supply chain, Eric Marchiol.

“We have invested more than EUR500m (US$591m) in France in productivity and 4.0 activity and we have started to hire – we have new people – it is the same in Spain.”