Today, in all regions of the developed world, manufacturing is changing rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that some say we are undergoing a fourth industrial revolution. While the introductions of steam power, the assembly line and early automation drove the first three industrial revolutions, machine intelligence will fuel the fourth one. Advances in electronic intelligence make it possible, to an extent undreamed of in the past, for equipment to measure and modify processes, and for factories to communicate over a wide area. The transition promises a number of benefits, including greater efficiency, flexibility, quality and safety, as well as improved maintenance, energy savings and lower production costs.

The importance of the shift to a new manufacturing system, or the smart factory, cannot be overemphasized. In the future, all forms of advanced industry will have to become more intelligent in order to compete effectively. This intelligence comes from advanced integrated circuits (ICs) that provide sensing, measurement, control, power management and communication, both wired and wireless.