I was fortunate to start my career in the mid-80s when the industrial world was experiencing a massive transformation. Virtually every industry, from manufacturing to aerospace to buildings, experienced significant productivity gains by switching from obsolete pneumatic, analog, and hydraulic systems to modern digital technologies enabled by microprocessors and software.
Since then, industry has continued to evolve. Those microprocessors and software have improved, and in recent years the Industrial Internet of Things has come to the fore. That has created the connected workplace, enabling predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, and even further automation (aka “smart factories”).
