Re-Humanising Organisations: The Core of Industry 4.0 Resilience

Henrik von Scheel is recognised as one of the most influential futurists of the century and is credited with originating Industry 4.0. His work has impacted 24 nations and 23% of Fortune 500 companies. This article is an excerpt from his recent webinar, “Resilient Workforce Strategies in the Era of Industry 4.0”.

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As someone who helped ignite the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I'm often asked to explain not just what Industry 4.0 is, but why it matters for the future of work and manufacturing. Today, I want to share with you the human dimension of this transformation—the aspect that many overlook when focusing solely on technology.

The Birth of Industry 4.0

Back in 2008, during the global recession, I was approached by the German government to help them discover how to generate growth and productivity. Working alongside Henning Kagaman (co-founder of SAP) and Professor Scheer (co-founder of process engineering), we noticed a fundamental shift happening in technology.

What we initially identified as five colliding trends quickly expanded to 77 mega-trends transforming how we consume, work, interact, and operate economically at a pace unprecedented in human history. This convergence became what we now call Industry 4.0.

The Evolution of Industrial Revolutions

To understand where we are, it helps to recognise the pattern of industrial revolutions. The First Industrial Revolution organised the workforce and began replacing physical labor. The Second Revolution introduced assembly lines and further physical automation. The Third Revolution brought digitalisation and continued physical replacement. Now, the Fourth Revolution introduces mental replacement through AI and automation.

What makes our current moment unique is that we're not just automating physical tasks - we're automating cognitive functions. This creates both anxiety and opportunity, which is why re-humanising our organisations becomes essential for resilience.

The Eight Evolutionary Stages

Industry 4.0 isn't a single event but a series of overlapping evolutionary stages:

Digitalisation Revolution: Connecting elements and people (still evolving into Digitalisation 2.0)
Technology Revolution: AI, robotics, and tools that make organisations SMART
Sustainability Revolution: Aligning with global environmental agreements
Economic Revolution: Where we are now—the reset of monetary systems and tariffs
Bio Revolution: Coming by 2030—merging bio and digital technologies
Consumer Revolution: Shifting from people as products to people monetising their own data
Fusion Revolution: Free energy and abundant resources
Quantum Revolution: The long-term frontier

Many talk about Industry 5.0 or beyond, but the reality is that society must successfully navigate these phases by 2050 to remain functional. The core element throughout all stages remains the human being.

Manufacturing as the Backbone

Manufacturing represents approximately 35% of the global market. For every $1 invested in manufacturing, we see a $2.69 return. This makes it not just a central component of Industry 4.0, but the economic backbone of our workforce.

While there's an understandable obsession with AI as a transformative tool, we need people-centered strategies to apply these technologies effectively. The re-humanisation of organisations must be our priority.

The Productivity-Resilience Balance

For manufacturers, productivity has traditionally been the primary focus - connecting workers, implementing ERP systems, automating processes, and improving scheduling. This creates a foundation where organisations can save 20-30% in productivity gains.

But productivity alone isn't enough. The next step is resilience - the ability to remain stable in a changing environment. Resilience comes from effectively managing risks in forecast planning, people management, skills alignment, compliance, and training effectiveness. These elements comprise what we call "future work" and enable growth beyond mere productivity gains.

The Human Element in Workforce Management

Having a motivated, skilled, and dependable workforce is a key pillar of resilience. The ability to attract and retain talent represents one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers in 2025.

The modern workforce expects consumer-grade mobile technology, flexibility in scheduling, involvement in workforce processes, fair and predictable scheduling, and proper work-life balance. Organisations with highly engaged employees report 22% increases in productivity. Conversely, poor workforce management leads to attrition - about 25% of employees who leave cite inadequate workforce practices as their reason.

AI: Between Hope and Hype

While AI offers tremendous potential, we must distinguish between hype and genuine value. Effective AI implementation begins with quality data and basic systems. Companies need the fundamentals right before they can leverage machine learning for absence management, fatigue prevention, identifying organisational hotspots, predicting burnout risks, demand forecasting, and workforce planning.

AI enables both reactive advantages through faster response to market changes and proactive benefits by forecasting future workforce needs and skills requirements.

Closing Thoughts

The Fourth Industrial Revolution presents both challenges and opportunities, but its centerpiece remains human. Organisations that re-humanise their approach - using technology to enhance human capabilities rather than simply replace them - will develop the resilience needed to thrive.

Manufacturing companies have the potential to save 20-30% on productivity through proper workforce management. The next frontier is building organisational resilience through better risk management, employee engagement, and strategic use of AI.

Are you ready for this transformation? Ask yourself: Does your organisation treat technology as a tool to empower people, or as a replacement for them? Can you identify where your workforce feels most disconnected from decision-making processes? When market disruptions occur, does your team adapt quickly or struggle to respond? Are you measuring employee engagement as rigorously as you measure productivity metrics?

As we move through the eight evolutionary stages of Industry 4.0, remember that humans are the adaptive element that makes progress possible. Our uniquely human ability to adapt is what will enable us to navigate these transformative times successfully - if we maintain our focus on the human dimension.

Want to dive deeper and learn how to boost productivity and resilience in your organisation?

Watch our exclusive webinar replay