Technology has played a major role in advancing most areas of our everyday lives - but it can also have a significant effect in the world of industry.

Originally proposed by the German government back in 2013, Industry 4.0 is the label given to the gradual combination of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices with the increasingly technological world around us.

Traditionally a hotbed of innovation, the industrial sector is poised to benefit hugely from the next generation of technological breakthroughs, utilising the latest advances to improve efficiency and productivity via Industry 4.0..

In Industry 4.0, the connected ecosystem of the Internet of Things (IoT), will be able to help manufacturers and consumers alike to provide increased automation, improved communication and monitoring, along with self-diagnosis and new levels of analysis to provide a truly productive future.

Factories will become increasingly automated and self-monitoring as the machines within are given the ability to analyse and communicate with each other and their human co-workers, granting companies much smoother processes that free up workers for other tasks.