Industry 4.0 in a Global Context – a comparative analysis of Germany, U.S.A and China

Abstract

In 2011 Germany introduced the term Industry 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution. Connected to the term is a concept shaping Germany’s industry towards this new era. A new era where physical and virtual world combine and components like the Internet of Things and Services, Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Manufacturing play an important role. The topic gained a lot of attention all over the world. Several countries followed suit and came up with similar initiatives addressing the topic. China introduced Made in China 2025 and Internet Plus. The U.S.A. the Industrial Internet Consortium and Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. All three countries are addressing the same topic but differentiate in the way of implementation and understanding. The aim is to analyze the initiatives and to find out to which degree differences and similarities in the way of understanding and implementation are visible when comparing Germany, U.S.A. and China. The overall goal is similar: becoming the leading country in this new market. Germany and the U.S. are well prepared considering their level of industrialization whereas China has to master Industry 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 at the same time. The initiatives differentiate in their way of execution (government or market driven) and focus areas. The U.S.A. focuses on software rather on hardware, Germany on both and China aims at a total restructuring of manufacturing industry by setting quantifiable goals.