Forging equipment and its characteristics in four different industrial eras

Industry 1.0 refers to the first industrial revolution from the 1760s to the mid-19th century. Watt improved the steam engine, which created an industrial wave of machines replacing manual labor and created the "steam age" of machine factories. The machines used in Industry 1.0 were all driven by water power and steam engines. Although the efficiency was not high, it was of great epoch-making significance because it was the first time that mechanical production replaced manual labor, and the economic society transformed from an agriculture-based and handicraft-based economy to a new model driven by industry and machinery manufacturing.

Industry 2.0 refers to the second industrial revolution from the 1870s to the early 20th century. In Industry 1.0, machines using water power and steam could not meet the needs of the rapid development of human society. New energy and machines led to the occurrence of the second industrial revolution. In Industry 2.0, thanks to the advent of internal combustion engines and generators, electrical appliances were widely used, bringing humans into the assembly line mode and "electrical age" with clear division of labor and mass production. Mechanical equipment was controlled by relays and electrical automation and driven by AC asynchronous motors. Through the successful separation of parts production and product assembly, a new and efficient model for mass production of products has been created. Transportation tools such as cars, ships, and airplanes have developed rapidly, and the functions of machines have become more diverse. In addition, thanks to the development of telephones, communication between humans has become simple and fast, and the spread of information between humans has laid the foundation for the third industrial revolution.

Industry 3.0 refers to the third industrial revolution that has continued from the 1950s to the present. On the basis of upgrading Industry 2.0, electronic and information technology are widely used to further improve the degree of automation and control of the manufacturing process. Production efficiency, yield rate, division of labor and cooperation, and the life of mechanical equipment have all been unprecedentedly improved. At this stage, factories use a large number of mechanical equipment controlled by electronic and information technology automation such as PC, PLC/single-chip microcomputer for production. Since then, machines have been able to gradually replace human operations, not only taking over a considerable proportion of physical labor, but also taking over part of mental labor.

The concept of Industry 4.0 is one of the ten future projects identified by the German government's "High-Tech Strategy 2020" in 2013, and has been elevated to a national strategy to support the research and development and innovation of a new generation of revolutionary technologies in the industrial field. Industry 4.0 represents a new production technology and production method, which is defined as "intelligent production in an Internet of Everything environment", and establishes a new production method through the deep integration of information flow and physical flow. Industry 4.0 and intelligent manufacturing are the inevitable trends of industrial development. If Industry 1.0 is the "steam age" driven by steam engines, then Industry 2.0 is the "electrical age" driven by AC asynchronous motors, and Industry 3.0 is the "CNC age" driven by AC servo synchronous motors. Industry 4.0 will open up a wonderful "network intelligence age" of information-physical systems throughout the product life cycle.