Collaboration Moves Productivity to the Next Level

Driven by cyber-physical systems, industrialization is on the edge of its fourth revolution, denominated ‘Industry 4.0’ in Germany. In the past, technological advancements were often only the starting point for productivity gains and had to be translated into organizational innovation in order to foster a pervasive improvement of productivity. According to this, this keynote investigates the role of cyber-physical systems as the technological driver and collaboration as the organizational driver that will enable higher levels of productivity with Industry 4.0. A framework for collaborative practice is portrayed and its constituting components are used to exemplify levers of Industry 4.0 that can increase collabora- tion productivity.