Whether you call it smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0, digital disruption is real. It is going to impact all manufacturers; asset-intensive businesses like utilities, oil and gas companies and mining; and infrastructure-centric companies like heavy transportation and pipeline operations.
Since the 2011 Hannover Fair, where the German government brought the idea to the forefront, the market has been coalescing around the cyber-physical construct that defines this fourth industrial revolution.
