Germany positions for “industry 4.0” internet powered revolution

After gaining a reputation for making quality cars and producing engineering giants, Germany is now poised to position itself for the coming revolution, "industry 4.0", powered by internet.

Inaugurating the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair in Germany's northern city of Hanover, German Chancellor Angella Merkel said, "The internet has become an integral part of industry," said chancellor Angela Merkel as she inaugurated the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair in Germany's northern city of Hanover.

At the show, German firms were seen doubling efforts to keep ahead of the global competition when it came to smartening industrial processes and making them more interconnected.

The ''smart factory' showcased by German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) showed how industrial processes could be made more efficient when connected by internet.

By way of example, the DFKI showed  how a plastic badge installed with a tiny RFID identification chip instructed machines involved in its production.

The chip can tell other machines what was needed to engraved on its surface, the colour to paint it or whether to stick on instructions in French, German or Portuguese.