Technical Documentation 4.0

The manufacturing industry is facing yet another revolution which transforms the way machines, humans and factories work together: Industry 4.0 - a term introduced by the "High-Tech Strategy 2020" of the German government [4].

Text by Jan Oevermann

Inhaltsübersicht

Technical Documentation 4.0

Image: ©chombosan/istockphoto.com

The version number of this buzzword refers to the 4th industrial revolution, putting it in direct lineage to the first industrial revolution, which changed the world forever. Skeptics dismiss the term as a hype but nobody can deny that the main characteristics of Industry 4.0, such as mass customization and the merging of products and services are visible throughout the market.

Industry 4.0 summarizes multiple smaller trends in manufacturing, including the advance of cyber-physical systems, predictive maintenance and smart factories [4]. The rise of applications powered by Artificial Intelligence is another tangible characteristic in the progress of automated manufacturing [3]. All industries, from bakeries to banking, are affected by a global digitalization driven by market demands and the need to increase efficiency.

But what about Technical Documentation 4.0? Which challenges will ...