Industry 5.0 Definition and Scope
In recent years, with new leaps in technology, new developments have occurred in the business world in parallel with increasing diversity and rising customer expectations. After the Industry 4.0 vision, which is still not fully matured and implemented, was introduced as automating production and shifting the workforce to robots, the role of people in production began to be questioned and the social dimension of the economy began to be discussed. Parallel to the development of Industry 4.0 proposed by the German Government, the fifth industrial revolution, Industry 5.0 model, emerged as a natural consequence of the increasing importance of the concept of sustainability and the introduction of the Society 5.0 approach by the Japanese Government. In the table below, you can find the time periods, main themes and explanations of the Industrial Revolutions. As can be seen, Industry 5.0 emerges as a set of values with the theme of personalization and developed after 2017.
A new level of technology has been reached with the pairing of human brain and machine interfaces, i.e. robots. The new level reached with the speed and power of robotic technology, combined with the use of human intelligence and creativity, has intensified humanity to think about new ways of working and business models and has aroused the desire to develop in this field. We also observe that the pollution of nature, which has been increasing with the industrial revolutions, has reached even more remarkable levels in recent years. Therefore, Industry 5.0 aims to establish a sustainable system through the cooperation of humans and robots, and to protect nature as well as developments against the natural pollution caused by Industry 4.0, which aims to increase efficiency by automating processes. Industry 4.0 has no vision of sustainability and social life, and its only focus is on combining automation technologies with smart methods. In Industry 5.0, sustainability is an important and fundamental part of the vision. While the collaboration of man and machine is expected to transform the economy and ecology in many ways, Industry 5.0 aims for a production model that enables a zero-waste industry that protects the ecosystem. We can see the differences between the two industrial revolutions in the table below.
Various visions have been defined for Industry 5.0, which aims for a system that is sustainable and in cooperation with robots. To give an example for one of the developments within the scope of human robot cooperation, it is expected that robots will perform repetitive and labor-intensive jobs such as cleaning, and that humans will exist alongside robots with an innovative and creative way of working. Apart from this, the development of bioeconomy in this field is also among the expected visions. With the sustainability of the smart use of biological resources in production processes, it is aimed to ensure environmental, economic and sociological balance.
In Industry 5.0, where technology serves people, robots will take over repetitive and manual work and human creativity and intelligence will manage the system. Creative qualities inherent in human nature, such as critical thinking and craftsmanship, will gain value in the Industry 5.0 process. Through automation, people will be able to devote more time to planning and strategizing, while delegating low-contributing tasks to robots and freeing up time in their daily lives. In this way, super-intelligent societies, connected by technology, will solve social problems, support long-term goals that enable sustainable development and increase societal well-being.
Industry 5.0 is a process developed in parallel to the Industry 4.0 industrial revolution that is currently underway, and many of its features are not yet clear. Some of the features of Industry 5.0 are mentioned below:
- Industry 4.0 technologies (Internet of Things, cyber physical systems, smart factories, cloud computing, cyber security, big data, augmented reality, robots, etc.).
- Autonomous production with human intelligence at the center
- Human machine/robot collaboration and synergy (cobots)
- Bioenergy and renewable energy technologies
- Green computing
- Super smart digital society
- Personalized products services and experiences
- Sustainability
The main dimensions that make up Industry 5.0 and the main paradigm changes it will make in social life are illustrated below.
Industry 5.0 and Sustainability
In this section of our article, Industry 5.0 paradigm and sustainability are discussed. The goal of sustainability is at the center of Industry 5.0 and reveals its fundamental difference from previous industrial revolutions. The smart sectors targeted in Industry 4.0 will transform into smart and sustainable sectors in Industry 5.0. In addition, the use of fossil-based fuels is expected to stop with the increase in renewable and bioenergy studies and the implementation of efficient technologies. In this vision, smart, sustainable and nature-intertwined cities will be established, where a super-smart digital society will live side by side with robots working in cooperation.
Although Industry 5.0 is a vision that has not yet been realized, Industry 4.0 with its technological infrastructure, the concept of sustainability, which is attracting more and more attention, and the sustainable development goals of the United Nations allow it to be realized soon and easily. Another expected transformation is the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy and the transformation of raw materials from state to state within the economic model without leaving the system as garbage. In this way, the model that rapidly depletes existing natural resources can be replaced by a self-sufficient model.
Industry 5.0 for a better and livable world !!
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Fukuyama, M., 2018. Society 5.0: Aiming for a New Human-centered Society. Japan SPOTLIGHT 27, 47–50.
