Industry 4.2TM – The Future of Work and the Worker - An Emerging Era for Materials Processing

In the 4^th IR, so called Industry 4.0, we are witnessing a world in which virtual and physical manufacturing systems globally cooperate with each other in a flexible way. We are also witnessing a complete change in the organization of global value chains. In brief, we are entering a new era of innovation that will transform materials processing. This has huge implications regarding the future of work, and just as importantly, the future of the worker. That is why we have coined Industry 4.2, to emphasize the implications for the worker, and thus the future of the worker. The landscape of data science and the power of machine learning applied to systems where there exist governing physical laws is pivotal in how manufacturing will be carried out in the future. The emerging areas of sensors, controls, and machine learning as they apply to materials processing will be presented. Implications and opportunities of the 4th IR with respect to materials processing will be reviewed and discussed.