Industry 4.0 in the South-West Oltenia Region: The Challenges of Emerging Technologies

Without any doubt, the industry, a concept with variable geometry, has undergone profound transformations, especially through what we now call revolutions. The last of these, the fourth, known as 'Industry 4.0', involves a disruption of production processes, induced by the Internet and information processing, transmission and processing technologies. More significant of the effects expected by those1 who follow his gait we can mention: more flexibility and adaptability; transformation of rigid structures into network-type structures; vertical integration of flexible and reconfigurable production systems; modularization and autonomy of production systems; use of production systems with fractal structure; resource optimization by connecting equipment to the network; the use of artificial intelligence in the control of production systems, in order to make quick optimal decisions; developing and using new business models; the use of 'ap-store' and 'cloud' applications as new concepts in knowledge management. The conclusion of those who promote the new era of industrial evolution is that all these aspects will generate an increase in manufacturing efficiency by optimizing the technological process, reducing waste in the process chain, greater adaptability to customer needs, increasing product quality, and finally reducing manufacturing costs and waiting times for final consumers. These huge challenges posed by the emergence and expansion of the new evolutionary period of the industry by digitizing the entire process for the manufacture of a product, justify the effort of the contemporary world to implement the Industry 4.0 agenda. And, finally, I come back with the natural dilemma: can Romania and, naturally, the South-West Oltenia region be an active part in this qualitative leap of the industry and not only?