The World Economic Forum has inducted 21 manufacturing operations into its Industry 4.0 hall-of-fame based on their usage of sundry digital tech, notably AI, to raise productivity, reduce wastage, and drive sustainability – and to generally withstand the crosswinds of political, economic, environmental, and other global tensions. Another four manufacturing sites have been highlighted for their “sustainability-focused technology breakthroughs”.
As historically with the forum’s so-called Global Lighthouse Network of Industry 4.0 venues, China-based manufacturing sites dominate the list. In total, the World Economic Forum has now recognised 153 facilities, plus also “value chains”, as Industry 4.0 ‘Manufacturing Lighthouses’; 17 are listed as ‘Sustainability Lighthouses’. Of the new venues on the manufacturing and sustainability lists, more than half (13 out of 25) are based in China.
