trends in automation

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Industry 4.0 is the latest buzzword. It’s the fourth industrial revolution and represents the
future where intelligent machines are self-aware and automation challenges can be solved
by the machinery itself.
Leadership 4.0 –
Training for Revolution
Neil Lewin, Consultant for Festo Training and Consulting
Issue 32 trends in automation
Synergies 20 – 21
The manufacturing and engineering
industries are on the cusp of this
revolution. Only the most agile
organisations will thrive, while
those with one foot in the past will be left
behind. To be successful, leaders and
managers must put in place new strategic
thinking to exploit business opportunities
and respond to threats.
But what are the potential implications of
Industry 4.0 for those who must
implement change on the ground? Neil
Lewin, Consultant for Festo Training and
Consulting explores this issue.
At Festo, we believe that even change
itself is changing. The amount of activity,
the frequency of projects, and the
requirement to adapt quickly is ever
increasing. And that’s just on a day-to-day
basis. To consider the long-term strategic
change required by Industry 4.0 we need
a different form of leadership –
Leadership 4.0.
Leadership 4.0 looks at the capabilities
and qualities that will be required in the
factories of tomorrow. The leaders of the
future will need to adapt to five
environmental changes:
1. Competition – react
quickly to faster, younger
and dynamic organisations
emerging to challenge
market leaders.
2. Hierarchy – free up the
decision-making process
to speed up the pace of
change.
3. Technology – harness
the talents of individuals to
maximise technological
advancements.
4. Hyper connectivity –
quickly take advantage of
the opportunities of hyper
connectivity.
5. Transparency – manage
change with open and
honest communication.
Preparing for Industry 4.0 requires a
proactive and flexible approach to
managing change. New competition, an
increase in customer complaints, low
employee morale and low productivity are
all signs that your organisation is falling
into reactive change - significantly
increasing your risk of failure.
So how can you mitigate your risk of
failure? Before you set out on your
journey you need to make sure that your
organisation, your team and your people
are ready for change. Completing a
change readiness assessment will help
you understand how fit your company is
for change.
The next step is to map your change
journey, starting with setting your
destination. You need to take your
employees on the journey with you and
give them a compelling vision of what
you’re trying to achieve. In change
processes, we often explain the ‘what’,
maybe even the ‘how’, but don’t always
talk about the ‘why’. Why is it necessary
for the business and the individual?
Once you have your destination in mind,
you can start to work backwards. Map the
journey, plan the key waypoints and look
out for where you’re most likely to be able
to engage your people, or might lose their
commitment. Link the overall business
objective to individual Balance Score
Cards. This will provide you with an
understanding of how every individual in
your company contributes to the project.
Once you’re in the midst of a change
management journey, you will be relying
on your managers to Plan, Organise, Lead
and Evaluate (P.O.L.E.) the project, the
process and their people. Expecting your
managers to be proficient in all of these
areas is a tall order. Yet successful change
will only be delivered if they are. That’s
why training in change management is
fundamental. And that’s where managers
are frequently let down by organisations.
When senior leaders instigate change, it
is often cascaded down through an
organisation for managers and their
teams to implement. This puts enormous
pressure on managers, many of who feel
ill equipped or unsupported to handle
major change projects.