Business 4.0 – New Era, New Approach

You might have heard about Industry 4.0. This is the term used to describe the times we live in at this very moment. It refers to yet another stage of the industrial revolution.

Industry 4.0 brings us brand-new revenue streams and some challenges to deal with.

To avoid confusing Industry 4.0 with Business 4.0, let’s start this article with a quick understanding of both terms. You may also be familiar with more 4.0 terms, like globalization 4.0, a topic we’ll cover in another article.

Industry 4.0

If we were to pick just two words to synthesize the meaning of Industry 4.0, automation would be the first choice and the Internet the second.

Automation

It’s Industry 4.0 that’s changing the way companies go about their business, including creating new and improving existing products, manufacturing, and distribution. Plus, it doesn’t stop there, as other business areas benefit from digital transformation.

Digital technologies for new business models

The digital transformation era has resulted in a lot of automation using artificial intelligence that is present… everywhere, really.

Think about it. For companies, AI is in their smart factories, marketing campaigns, customer engagement, and support systems, e.g., data capture and analysis for personalized lead generations, communications, and chatbots.

AI is in all those apps on your smartphone for a consumer like you. You may not know it’s there, but AI is helping your device apps calculate things, bring up suggestions, and sometimes make decisions for you. If you’re a fan of Apple, you’ll use Siri on your iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV. That’s quite helpful, isn’t it?

Internet

The second word that’s synonymous with Industry 4.0 is the Internet. It is so powerful now that many sophisticated engineering projects can be performed remotely from home. The last pandemic has proven this. And that level of connectivity combined with automation slowly reduces traditional management approaches.

Business 4.0

Business 4.0 is a new business model that emerges from Industry 4.0. Integrate your digital or online channels and improve daily business operations. You’re probably most keen to know how digital transformation creates exponential value and profit for businesses with Business 4.0.

Integrating digital technologies

In times of the fourth industrial revolution, business 4.0 is mainly based on integrating digital technologies to reach operational excellence compatible with many departments simultaneously. Sometimes this refers to interconnection with other industries working together on different markets, sharing a specific feature: they are global.

And that results in creating exponential value of opportunities and profit. It also brings new risks, that’s true. But by embracing risk and integrating digital or online solutions, modern business leaders are taking the world by its horns, so to speak. For those who refuse to do it… the future doesn’t have much room for them. There’s only one way in this direction. It’s business 4.0.

Modern business behaviors

So, modern business behaviors are highly associated with digital tech, mainly if it works through the Internet. It’s not just sending emails, mind you.

Bigger yet easier

Basically, by creating an integrated network of contacts and online cloud computing, incorporated with AI and machine learning technologies, companies make the whole leveraging ecosystems that provide mass personalization of products and new services to sell.

Plainly speaking, it all just gets more extensive and more accessible at the same time.

Pathway To The Future

As you can see, business 4.0 perfectly matches our current world. Moreover, developing this model is possible with Industry 4.0 and is a pathway to the future.

For business survival, it’s impossible to ignore digital transformation.  Taking it a step further soon, any company choosing to get the path of Business 4.0 may see itself falling behind the competition. You don’t want that, do you?