[Paper Review] Quality 4.0: Let's Get Digital - The many ways the fourth industrial revolution is reshaping the way we think about quality

Nicole Radziwill|arXiv (Cornell University)|Oct 17, 2018

Digital Transformation in Industry41 citations

TL;DR

This opinion/perspective article surveys how Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies (cloud, big data, AI/ML, IoT, VR/AR, blockchain, additive manufacturing, CPS) are transforming quality concepts and organizational performance, advocating a new quality mindset for the digital era.

ABSTRACT

The technology landscape is richer and more promising than ever before. In many ways, cloud computing, big data, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things (IoT) all represent new frontiers. These technologies can help improve product and service quality, and organizational performance. In many regions, the internet is now as ubiquitous as electricity. Components are relatively cheap. A robust ecosystem of open-source software libraries means that engineers can solve problems 100 times faster than just two decades ago. This digital transformation is leading us toward connected intelligent automation: smart, hyperconnected agents deployed in environments where humans and machines cooperate, and leverage data, to achieve shared goals. This is not the worlds first industrial revolution. In fact, it is its fourth, and the disruptive changes it will bring suggest we will need a fresh perspective on quality to adapt to it.

Motivation & Objective

• Motivate a fresh perspective on quality in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
• Identify key technologies transforming quality management (cloud, big data, AI/ML, IoT, VR/AR, blockchain, additive manufacturing, CPS).
• Discuss how digital ecosystems enable new forms of quality assurance and organizational performance.

Proposed method

• Perform a conceptual/literature-informed analysis of emerging technologies and their implications for quality.
• Synthesize how connected, intelligent automation and data-driven approaches alter quality concepts.
• Argue for a new quality paradigm aligned with digital ecosystems and human–machine collaboration.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How will the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies reshape the way we think about quality?
• RQ2 Which technologies are most influential in enabling Quality 4.0 practices?
• RQ3 What organizational changes are needed to leverage digital quality ecosystems?

Key findings

• Digital transformation creates opportunities for improved product/service quality and organizational performance.
• A robust ecosystem of open-source tools accelerates problem solving and enables rapid innovation.
• Connected, intelligent automation with data sharing supports cooperative, goal-aligned human–machine work.
• The internet and cheap components enable widespread deployment of smart, hyperconnected systems (IoT, CPS).
• Quality frameworks must adapt to a data-rich, automated, interconnected environment.
• Quality 4.0 requires a fresh perspective on quality suitable for a digitally integrated industrial landscape.