Industrial Revolution 4 and the Forest Products Industry

There’s been an industrial revolution underway, but a lot of people aren’t aware of some of its emerging and powerful technologies. This revolution has already greatly impacted us, particularly in private sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and agriculture.

Called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, or just IR4, many meetings and conferences have occurred worldwide to discuss IR4 advancements and applications. Academics, government officials, entrepreneurs, and top managers from many industries have been keenly involved.

Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum apparently introduced the phrase Fourth Industrial Revolution back in 2015, and it was the theme of 2016 World Economic Forum that year. The United Nations’ International Conference on Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies for Sustainable Development was in November 2021.   

Many of us know about the First Industrial Revolution, starting in the late 1700s, that introduced basic  production methods such as steam and water power. The Second Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s and early 1900s saw the early development of our vast transportation, electrical, and communications networks. The Third Industrial Revolution included space exploration, many digital electronics developments, improved computing potentials, and the internet.

The high-profile IR4 technology has been artificial intelligence that I have described briefly in two previous PWJ articles. However, other IR4 innovations are becoming more common. Among these developments are the following:    

* The Internet of Things (IoT) describes networks of physical devices equipped with sensors, software, and connectivity. These “smart” linkages include personal devices and home appliances, but the acronym IoT usually changes to IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) when referring to linkages of complex factory machinery or far-flung remote instruments. IIoT is often used in conjunction with Earth observation technologies such as satellites and sophisticated drones.  

* Digital Twinning is a process in which digital models are designed and constructed to provide a real-time representation of actual physical or biological objects. Digital twinning can also transform many business processes, including project engineering, construction planning, supply chain analysis, and facility operations and maintenance.

* Nanotechnology involves the material sciences and manipulation of matter at amazingly small scales of less than 100 nanometers (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter). Certain materials at these small sizes exhibit distinctive properties that are leading to discoveries and practical commercial and personal applications. Nanoparticles incorporated into existing materials can improve their strength, durability, conductivity, and other properties such as self-cleaning or self-healing.

 * Blockchains are commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, but essentially these are sophisticated digital ledgers for recording important information that can be accessed yet can be very resistant to outside manipulation or cheating the system.

* Three-dimensional (3D) printing or additive manufacturing is a process that creates a physical object from a digital design. The process works by putting down thin layers of material in liquid form or powdered plastic, metal, cement, etc. and then fusing the layers together.

* Advanced robotics now are capable of more and more activities – from performing complex surgical procedures to disaster response.

* Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, over the internet or the “cloud.” This provides users with more innovations, flexibilities, backups, resources, and economies of scale than they might otherwise possess.

Although AI has been receiving the lion’s share of recent discussion concerning its potentials, several IR4 developments listed above should also be particularly impactful for the timber and forest products industry.     

Earth observation and IIoT networks with connected sensors can be deployed throughout forests to monitor environmental conditions, detect early signs of diseases or fires, and track the growth and health of trees in real-time. IIoT technology could also be integrated into logging equipment and mills to optimize operations and predictive maintenance.

Digital twinning technology can take data from Earth observation and sensory networks within forests to create detailed representations of these forests. This enables improved simulations of forest growth patterns for harvesting strategies that minimize waste and negative environmental impact.

Nanotechnology advances should enable new high-performance wood-based products with enhanced properties (strength, conductivity, etc.) and further expand potentially useful forest products.

Advances in blockchains and distributed ledger technology could increase transparency and traceability throughout the timber supply chain – from forest sources to end products. This should facilitate verification of sustainable sourcing practices and chain-of-custody certification.

There have been recent claims in books and articles concerning the emergence of a Fifth Industrial Revolution (IR5). IR5 supposedly will emphasize more human-centric and environmental values for already transformative technologies of IR4.

More ethical and sustainable goals for IR5 can seem utopian to some observers, though, given existing economic and political realities. Relatively short-term profit goals that often drive global corporations and the powerful influence of these corporations over political entities will be difficult to overcome. Ensuring that all stakeholders benefit from IR4 and IR5 technological advancements, especially marginalized ones such as poorer communities and the natural environment, will be a complex challenge. It will certainly require inspired leadership, substantial investment, and political will.

For more info, check books such as the one below: