{"id":442,"date":"2021-02-15T10:27:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T15:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/valor\/?p=442"},"modified":"2026-03-26T13:30:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:30:54","slug":"revolutions-are-only-visible-in-retrospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/valor\/2021\/02\/15\/revolutions-are-only-visible-in-retrospect\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutions are only visible in retrospect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes you don\u2019t notice that you\u2019re part of a revolution: Part #1 in our new 3-part blog series.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Handmade
Photo by James Woods<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When I talk to people, smart people, I ask them, \u201cDo you feel the revolution?\u201d They generally respond with \u201cWhat on earth are you talking about?\u201d But we are<\/em> in the midst of a huge revolution that is changing our life dramatically, primarily our consumer habits. In many respects, the industry 4.0<\/a> revolution is a game changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine the life of a person in the early 18th<\/sup> century. When they wanted to buy shoes or a shirt, they went to the shoemaker or to the tailor to be measured so that the craftsman could prepare the item according to their size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the adoption of the steam engine in the late 18th century, mass production resulted, and with it, the ability to produce goods more effectively. And, in the 19th century, when electricity was invented, even better and cheaper production became common. Then, in the 20th century, with the introduction of computers, we thought that the industrial revolution was complete<\/strong> \u2014 there was no way to be more effective than we already were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Industrial<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But then came the Industry 4.0 (i4.0) revolution, which is changing industry in a way that people hadn\u2019t imagined was even possible. Unlike the Industry 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 revolutions, i4.0 is not defined by a single invention, but rather by a combination of interconnected components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the following articles, I will focus on three of them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n