The "Industry 4.0" concept was first proposed by Germany. Once proposed, it quickly spread to several major industrial powers. Globally, "Industry 4.0" is characterized by smart manufacturing that integrates industrial manufacturing with network information technology, and has gradually been upgraded to a national industrial strategy. It integrates information technology into the industrial field to improve industrial standards and production efficiency. As industrial reforms in various countries deepen, "Industry 4.0" is changing the global industrial landscape. CPS (Cyber-Physical System), i.e., an information-physical fusion system, is the core technology adopted by the "Industry 4.0" strategy. Through the CPS system, real-time human-machine interaction can be achieved, thereby establishing a highly flexible smart manufacturing model that is both digital and personalized. Germany calls it "Industry 4.0", while the United States defines it as the Industrial Internet. At present, China has just started on the road of "Industry 4.0", and the country is facing the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing. To achieve the leap from a big manufacturing country to a strong manufacturing country, China must seize the opportunity of this industrial revolution. At the same time, by studying the latest trends in manufacturing development in major countries around the world and analyzing the current situation and difficulties of China's manufacturing development, we can correctly derive the strategies and measures that China should adopt.
I. Germany: The Pioneer of the "Industry 4.0" Era
(1) Germany was the first to launch "Industry
(2) Collaborative cooperation among government, industry, academia, research, and users, elevated to a national strategy
German business and academic circles believe that intelligent manufacturing based on CPS systems will play a dominant role in the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' in the coming years. In academia, Germany has many basic research institutions, such as the Leibniz Association, various universities, and the Helmholtz Association, supporting technological innovation in 'Industry 4.0'. These research findings can not only provide a theoretical basis for technological innovation, but also provide policy guidance for the government. In the business community, Siemens AG is an active practitioner and promoter of 'Industry 4.0', and other companies such as SAP have quickly followed suit. The 'Industry 4.0 Platform' was also established in 2013 by related associations, including the German Machinery and Manufacturers Association. On the government side, in 2013, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research jointly incorporated 'Industry 4.0' into the ten future projects of the 'High-Tech Strategy 2020', funded research projects on 'Industry 4.0', and, driven by German industry and academia, it was elevated to a national strategy. That year, the two ministries planned to invest EUR 200 million in the R&D of 'Industry 4.0' technology. In March 2015, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy took over the 'Industry 4.0 Platform' established by industry associations, reformed and upgraded it, and its working group consists of representatives from government, industry, research, and academia.
(3) Features of Germany's 'Industry 4.0'
“Smart factories” and “smart manufacturing” are two major themes of Germany’s "Industry 4.0". Their realization is centered on the CPS system. Germany's "Industry 4.0" achieves horizontal integration among factories, products, and production equipment, treating the entire production process as an "ecosystem" to enhance the intelligence and efficiency of production. Germany's "Industry 4.0" has five important characteristics: First, it emphasizes strategy. In today's fiercely competitive global environment, Germany is an inclusive and open country. From the "Industry 4.0" strategic plan, it is clear that Germany has developed comprehensive market and supplier strategies and focuses on innovative business models. Second, it values foundational strategies. From Germany's development history and the advancement of "Industry 4.0", it can be seen that Germany has always attached great importance to development strategic planning. Specific development roadmaps and strategies have enabled German manufacturing to maintain its leading advantage and ensure sustainable development. Third, it emphasizes foresight. The country implements the long-term "Industry 4.0" strategy in phases, conducting multi-perspective, multi-level dissection and forward-looking analysis of smart manufacturing and smart factories, providing both practical and theoretical basis for choosing strategic priorities. Furthermore, the German government and enterprises place great importance on standardization, creating preconditions and advantages for future international competition. Fourth, it focuses on innovation. Through the CPS system, Germany connects all factors in the industrial sector, demonstrating the depth of innovation. Germany's "Industry 4.0" applies innovative technologies and concepts to smart manufacturing and smart factories. Fifth, it values market orientation. In building an intelligent society and market, Germany is led by CPS systems and technological products, producing intelligent products for consumers at various levels across different regions and sectors. This new business model is bound to have broad market prospects.
II. The United States: Leading Intelligent Manufacturing with “Soft” Advantages
(1) The United States Is a Powerful Promoter of “Industry 4.0”
Americans call “Industry 4.0” the “Industrial Internet,” a term coined by GE (General Electric) in 2012. In June 2011, the U.S. government launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, and in February 2012 it launched the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing, implementing “reindustrialization.” The “Industrial Internet” proposed by the United States aims to connect people, data, and intelligent devices, and to use data exchange to drive the intelligent transformation of manufacturing. Compared with Germany, the “new industrial strategy” actively promoted by the United States places more emphasis on the “soft” side, such as big data, software, and the Internet for the reindustrialization of traditional industries. In the United States, “Industry 4.0” means connecting virtual networks with physical entities and reshaping manufacturing through big data analytics to create a more efficient production system. The American Industrial Internet has a broader scope, attempting to connect people, data, and machines to form an open and globalized industrial network. At present, more than 80 U.S. ICT and Internet giant companies, such as GE, IBM, and Cisco, have established the IIC (Industrial Internet Consortium), with the aim of breaking down technical barriers and achieving manufacturing innovation through big data. With its leading advantages in Industry 3.0 and the influence of advanced Internet and ICT giants, the United States is driving the development of global “Industry 4.0.”
(2) Comprehensive and Radical National Policies
In formulating its "Industrial Internet" strategy, the U.S. government hoped to achieve reindustrialization through a brand-new production model. As early as 2012, the United States elevated the "Industrial Internet" to a national strategy. Along with a series of acts being introduced, American intelligent manufacturing is realizing a revolution in the industrial and informatization fields. Earlier planning proposed: In 2009, "Revitalizing Manufacturing" was identified by President Obama as a national development strategy, and the "Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing" was issued to guide the development of the manufacturing industry. In 2011, in order to maintain its leading position in manufacturing, the Obama administration launched the "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership" program. Innovative strategies: In 2012, the Obama administration launched the "National Network for Manufacturing Innovation," the "National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute," and the "National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing," and established dozens of research centers to strengthen the organic integration of industry, academia, and research. In early 2013, agencies such as the Executive Office of the President invested $1 billion to build a manufacturing innovation network and issued the "Preliminary Design of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation." In mid-2013, the Obama administration invested $200 million to create three innovation centers, including the "Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute." Subsequently, in 2015, the "Composites Manufacturing Center" was established. From the above, it can be seen that driven by the U.S. government's comprehensive and aggressive policies, America's "Industrial Internet" is highly likely to prompt the United States to once again occupy the commanding heights in the field of intelligent manufacturing.
(3) Enterprise alliances tackle technical difficulties.
During the implementation of the “Industrial Internet” in the United States, the Industrial Internet Consortium plays a vital role. Its purpose is to participate in the formulation of intelligent manufacturing standards, provide an open platform among members, coordinate trials of new technologies among members, share trial results, break down technical barriers, and achieve data sharing. To date, the consortium has 251 members, including not only U.S. domestic enterprises, but also enterprises from the Asia-Pacific region and some German companies. The consortium has established cooperative relationships with more than 70 organizations worldwide, hoping to influence the development of international intelligent manufacturing standardization by formulating common standards. The consortium provides an important platform for the transformation of basic research into practical application. Through the sharing of experimental data among members, it will surely improve the intelligent manufacturing level and production efficiency of each member, thereby promoting the comprehensive upgrading of the entire industrial chain.
3. Implications of the “Industry 4.0” Strategic Experiences of the United States and Germany for China
In 2015, China launched “Made in China 2025,” which is hailed as the Chinese version of the “Industry 4.0” plan. Subsequently, all walks of life in China, especially industrial and Internet enterprises, have invested in China’s intelligent manufacturing industry. At present, China still has many shortcomings and challenges in developing “Industry 4.0”: Germany is now moving from 3.0 to 4.0, from automation to networked information, while China’s manufacturing industry is still between Industry 2.0 and 3.0.
First, global manufacturing competition has intensified. A new round of industrial revolution has begun, and countries around the world are actively improving their level of intelligent manufacturing in order to gain an advantage in future competition. Developed countries such as the United States and Germany, through implementing "Industry 4.0" plans, will certainly increase their advantages in manufacturing, network and information industries;
Second, there is a risk of losing the advantage in mid- and low-end manufacturing. In the process of re-industrialization, some developing countries in Asia, due to lower labor costs, will certainly change the layout of mid- and low-end manufacturing, causing our country to lose its advantageous position in the mid- and low-end market;
Third, from the perspective of China's domestic situation, enterprises urgently need transformation. Chinese enterprises are highly dependent on foreign countries, with most core components and technologies relying on imports. They do not pay enough attention to standardization, lack standardization, and even more lack international thinking. This is a shortcoming of our country; the manufacturing level is low, lacking large brand effects and well-known large enterprises. Management level is not high, and the quality of manufactured products lacks stability;
Fourth, the era of "Industry 4.0" faces a spectrum crisis. In the future, with the development of the "Industry 4.0" strategy, the Internet will gradually integrate with the manufacturing industry, which will certainly promote the rapid development of the Internet of Vehicles and the Internet of Things. Intelligent production led by "Internet + Industry" requires a large amount of spectrum resources. In addition, in the future process of "Industry 4.0", a large number of new technologies and devices will surely emerge, such as new RFID and sensing technologies, as well as massive application terminals brought by big data. The increasingly prominent shortage of spectrum resources will inevitably make the implementation of "Industry 4.0" in China feel stretched. At the same time, accompanying the spectrum shortage are the increasing complexity of China's electromagnetic environment and the increasingly serious problem of electromagnetic interference. According to forecasts, by 2020, due to the surge in wireless devices and applications, the future IoT spectrum gap will reach 1248MHz~1584MHz. In response to the above problems, drawing on the development strategies of the United States and Germany for "Industry 4.0", the following insights can be obtained:
To establish pilot units, first, it is necessary to strengthen international exchanges and as soon as possible research and establish China's basic framework for "Industry 4.0". The framework includes top-level design, production systems, implementation steps, hardware equipment, institutional safeguards, and software systems. China has just launched "Made in China 2015". In the early stage, we should strengthen exchanges with developed countries such as Germany and the United States on "Industry 4.0", and learn from their advanced experience gained in the process of "reindustrialization". Second, with respect to neighboring developing countries, China should proactively strengthen cooperation with them in the medium- and low-end manufacturing industry, jointly discuss the formulation of technical standards, and find a development blueprint for "Industry 4.0" that suits China's national conditions. Third, since China has no prior experience in developing "Industry 4.0", pilot projects can be carried out in relatively industrialized regions such as the southeast coast and the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan area. That is, pilot projects should be launched at different levels and in different regions in the direction of intelligence in production processes, products, the Industrial Internet, management, and services, with the aim of breaking down the boundaries between individual pilot projects. With the gradual advancement of the integration of informatization and industrialization and the "Internet Plus" strategy, China will surely gain advanced management and production experience in the development of "Industry 4.0", and demonstrate "Made in China" in the global competitive landscape.
(2) Consolidating the foundation for industrial development
The United States and Germany, after the development and accumulation of 'Industrial 2.0' and 'Industrial 3.0', were able to ride the trend when implementing the 'Industrial 4.0' strategy. However, China's extensive mode of production has left most of its enterprises, especially those in the central and western regions, still in the 'Industrial 2.0' stage. Enterprises in the southeastern coastal areas are mostly dominated by CNC-based processing, which still falls far short of the 'Industrial 3.0' standard of developed countries. Faced with the situation that China's manufacturing industry is 'large but not strong', it is suggested that China should complete the path of 'Industrial 2.0' and 'Industrial 3.0' in a step-by-step, phase-by-phase, and region-by-region manner. At the same time, we should vigorously implement the 'Internet+' strategy nationwide and promote the transformation and upgrading of China's economy through Internet plus industry. We should gradually change the production methods of traditional industries and cultivate growth points for the industrial economy with innovative thinking. Relying on the Internet, the Internet of Things, and big data, we should build an intelligent industrial system. We should accelerate the integration of informatization and industrialization to consolidate China's informatization foundation. We should vigorously develop high-end manufacturing, increase investment, and provide policy and financial support to capable high-end manufacturing enterprises.
(3) Promote the development of the intelligent equipment industry through major special projects.
Intelligent manufacturing has become a new trend in the development of the global manufacturing industry, and intelligent equipment is the physical carrier of intelligent manufacturing. China urgently needs to launch major special projects to realize the intelligentization of industry and society. Although China has already achieved industrialized results in the field of intelligent processing, key links such as core technologies have always been a shortcoming. It is suggested to carry out demonstration projects of intelligent manufacturing in regions where conditions permit, and launch special projects for intelligent manufacturing. First, carry out major special projects such as industrial robots, digital factory application demonstrations, and big data applications in manufacturing; second, continue to carry out national major science and technology projects, such as basic manufacturing equipment and high-end CNC machine tools. Third, establish a national-level manufacturing innovation center and attach importance to the integration of industry, academia, and research.
(4) Take multiple measures to address concerns about frequency use
In the management of radio spectrum resources, innovate the working methods and approaches for radio management. In accordance with the requirements of transforming government functions, strengthening interim and post-hoc regulation, and giving play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, it is imperative to change the single model of administrative frequency designation and establish a market-oriented multiple frequency allocation model. Research the role of the radio spectrum in the development of the intelligent manufacturing industry, and comprehensively elaborate on the economic value of radio spectrum resources. Explore the feasibility of allocating radio spectrum resources based on industry application domains; carry out forward-looking research and make good plans for industrial frequency usage. Conduct demand forecasting for frequency usage in "Industry 4.0," with a focus on frequency planning and allocation in such areas as "Broadband China," the Internet of Things, next-generation mobile communications, and "Internet +." Objectively predict congestion, strengthen the re-sorting and adjustment of existing frequencies, and promote the efficient and intensive use of frequency resources. Strengthen R&D in frequency-usage technologies, improve spectrum resource utilization, and enhance exchanges and cooperation with developed countries in spectrum technology applications and spectrum sharing technologies. Gradually establish a technology and service innovation system with enterprises as the mainstay and integrating industry, academia, research, and application, develop products with China's independent intellectual property rights suitable for the field of broadband wireless communications, and industrialize them as soon as possible. At the level of laws and regulations, strengthen frequency-usage supervision and spectrum sharing, and make every effort to address the "Industry 4." During the development of “Industry 4.0”, new forms and types of radio interference may emerge, along with illegal acts of maliciously interfering with legitimate frequency use, as well as issues such as frequency usage disorder, lack of unified supervision, and difficulties in spectrum sharing coordination among multiple departments. It is necessary to improve China’s spectrum management policies and relevant rules and regulations to create a favorable electromagnetic environment for the “Industry 4.0” era.
(5) Put Standards First
Standards have become the commanding height of competition in high-tech industries. The essence of the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' is competition over industrial standards, and the most distinctive feature of the 'Industry 4.0' strategy is that standards come first. Both Germany's 'Industry 4.0' standardization roadmap and the United States' 'Industrial Internet' standard construction place standardization first, which sounds an alarm for China's 'Made in China 2025' plan: standards first is the top priority. First, the Chinese government should integrate existing standardization resources as soon as possible, formulate an intelligent manufacturing standardization system suited to China's national conditions, and guide the formulation of domestic industry standards. Second, it is recommended to set up a special working group for the formulation of 'Industry 4.0' standards, promptly study the industrial standards of advanced countries, and closely follow the pace of international 'Industry 4.0' standardization. Third, we should attach importance to strategic cooperation with the United States and Germany on 'Industry 4.0'. Strengthen learning and communication, and through international cooperation, lead the internationalization of China's standardization work and align with internationally accepted standards, ensuring that China has sufficient say in future industrial competition.
