Digital transformation in enterprises: Industry 4.0

1 
Introduction 
By studying the history of economic evolution and development, it is possible 
to observe that the periods of great growth have always been linked to great 
productive revolutions.  
So far, we have experienced three industrial revolutions:  
• in the 19
th
 century the steam machine led to the mechanization of labor;  
• in the mid 20
th
 century the introduction of electricity allows the spread 
of mass production with the only “one best way” to produce and thus 
the standardization of production and products; 
• in the 1970s technological progress and information technology are the 
basis of the first wave of automation.  
The ability to foster significant improvements in productivity aimed at 
generating an important economic growth and therefore greater social well-
being is what connects these revolutions one with the other. 
Today, companies’ success is not due only to skills such as availability of 
capital, low labor costs and high quality of products and services, but also to 
the ability to innovate, capture and trigger “digital opportunities”. 
In the last years we have been facing another industrial revolution, led by 
continuous and swift technological and scientific development: Industry 4.0. 
New technologies such as the ones related to the Internet of Things, Big Data 
Analytics, Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing, 5G, will revolutionize 
production methods and will allow enterprises to gain competitiveness on the 
world market; such new technologies will change, and already are, the ways 
of producing, the business models and the organizations as a whole. 
Now the real challenge for the future of the enterprises is to be able to catch 
the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0. The digitalization path started by 
society, Public Administration and enterprises is not yet complete, due to a 
series of infrastructural, economic and cultural obstacles. 
The idea of this project is to try to give a response to the growing need to 
understand the Fourth Industrial Revolution, known as the “Industry 4.0”, not 
only as a technological evolution, but also as a tool for management to 
innovate with a look towards the future.