Integration can help bridge skills gaps
9 Jan 2013
‘Integrated industry’ has been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution, following on from the steam engine, mass production and automation (see story).
The advanced integration concept is the motto of this year’s Hannover Messe, which bills itself as the world’s largest and most important industrial technology trade fair.
Chosen by major exhibitors, the 4G theme reflects how the growing IT-led capabilities to generate and share data in real time are driving alliances between companies operating in completely different markets and industries.
A move to closer integration could also apply on other levels.
Our on-line news section, for example, now carries two seemingly conflicting stories: one in which Sir James Dyson warns about a growing shortfall of engineering graduates, the other highlighting an increasing uptake of chemical engineering degree courses.
In this instance, integration might see industry leaders picking up on the apparently successful approaches developed within the chemicals industries, and applying them across the broader engineering sector.
