How the Core Technologies of Industry 4.0 are Changing the Automotive Industry in the World, with a Focus on China

Industry 4.0 has a significant impact on the automation of production processes, by causing numerous changes in three segments: companies, technology and workers. Developed countries worldwide have their own strategies on Industry 4.0, which offer guidelines on its implementation in production processes, with the aim of their complete flexible automation. The core technologies on which Industry 4.0 rests have led to a complete transformation in production processes, especially in the automotive industry. The basic technology of Industry 4.0 is robot technology, i.e., the implementation of industrial and service robots in production processes. The paper provides an analysis of the implementation of industrial robots and service robots in the automation of production processes in the automotive industry with a focus on China. The analysis of the automation of production processes of the automobile industry in China was carried out for two reasons. The first is that China has a growing middle-class population, so demographic trends are encouraging the growing demand for certain products, such as cars. Another reason is that in China (as in Japan, Russia and Western Europe) the average age of factory workers is increasing (the labor force is older), thus the performance of certain tasks becomes more difficult so greater efficiency is not achieved. The paper analyzes vehicle production in China, as well as the readiness of production processes in the automotive industry for the implementation of Industry 4.0.