8 Industry 4.0 in Welding
257
period, manufacturing started when a skilled artisan along with a few disciples made
goods and sold them eventually. These goods are modern-day handicrafts. These
mostly occurred in households of rural areas. However, with the advent of the industrial age, manufacturing had its range from handicrafts to high technology products.
The term “industrial revolution” indicates the various innovations in the process of
production. It roots back to sixteenth century, where most of the jobs were performed
manually with the help of labourers. This phase lasted for around 100 years until
the first commercial and successful steam engine was designed and created [6]. The
power that was obtained from driving the steam facilitated a change in the industrial
context, which is known to be the first revolution, i.e. “Industry 1.0” [7]. With the
advent of steam engine, there occurred a rapid increase in the rate of production.
The factories built in this era had general purpose machines only run by mechanical
prime movers, and the jobs were highly labour oriented.
Welding in this era resembled the forging technology, where two metal pieces
were heated together to get welded. The idea was similar to the blacksmith shop.
The process involved extreme heating of the metals, followed by forcing them to
join together by applying pressure through a hammer. The process of joining metals
in this era does not resemble to what is known today as the conventional method
of welding. However, it just served as one of the ways of shaping and forming the
metals.
8.2.2 Industry 2.0 – the Second Industrial Revolution
Humans have always tried to build machines that would perform their various works
and also think of improving it. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, another
revolution in the industry occurred with electricity being used as the primary source
of power [8]. For instance, the manufacturing of an automobile in the previous era
involved gathering all the components near the chassis. As such, the assembly process
involved a huge amount of time in manufacturing a single automobile. The assembly
line concept was introduced later, where the manpower was segregated based on
the skill set, and each was assigned to a specific task from the entire process of
production. The result of the moving assembly line was an increase in the overall
productivity and decrease in the labour usage. This led to the mass production of
goods that were now sold at low prices [8].
The conventional way of joining the metals is known to come into existence during
this era. The first use of electric arc happened for two carbon electrodes with the help
of a battery, and, the first use of fusion welding was documented where two lead
plates were joined by using arc from the carbon electrodes. This was followed by the
use of bare metal electrodes for arc welding that was consumed in the molten pool
and becomes a part of the weld metal. However, the quality of the weldment was
compromised because of the formation of oxides and nitrides. The importance of
shielding the arc and molten metal from the atmosphere was realized. This led to the
use of coated metal electrodes for arc welding, which became the precursor of the
257
period, manufacturing started when a skilled artisan along with a few disciples made
goods and sold them eventually. These goods are modern-day handicrafts. These
mostly occurred in households of rural areas. However, with the advent of the industrial age, manufacturing had its range from handicrafts to high technology products.
The term “industrial revolution” indicates the various innovations in the process of
production. It roots back to sixteenth century, where most of the jobs were performed
manually with the help of labourers. This phase lasted for around 100 years until
the first commercial and successful steam engine was designed and created [6]. The
power that was obtained from driving the steam facilitated a change in the industrial
context, which is known to be the first revolution, i.e. “Industry 1.0” [7]. With the
advent of steam engine, there occurred a rapid increase in the rate of production.
The factories built in this era had general purpose machines only run by mechanical
prime movers, and the jobs were highly labour oriented.
Welding in this era resembled the forging technology, where two metal pieces
were heated together to get welded. The idea was similar to the blacksmith shop.
The process involved extreme heating of the metals, followed by forcing them to
join together by applying pressure through a hammer. The process of joining metals
in this era does not resemble to what is known today as the conventional method
of welding. However, it just served as one of the ways of shaping and forming the
metals.
8.2.2 Industry 2.0 – the Second Industrial Revolution
Humans have always tried to build machines that would perform their various works
and also think of improving it. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, another
revolution in the industry occurred with electricity being used as the primary source
of power [8]. For instance, the manufacturing of an automobile in the previous era
involved gathering all the components near the chassis. As such, the assembly process
involved a huge amount of time in manufacturing a single automobile. The assembly
line concept was introduced later, where the manpower was segregated based on
the skill set, and each was assigned to a specific task from the entire process of
production. The result of the moving assembly line was an increase in the overall
productivity and decrease in the labour usage. This led to the mass production of
goods that were now sold at low prices [8].
The conventional way of joining the metals is known to come into existence during
this era. The first use of electric arc happened for two carbon electrodes with the help
of a battery, and, the first use of fusion welding was documented where two lead
plates were joined by using arc from the carbon electrodes. This was followed by the
use of bare metal electrodes for arc welding that was consumed in the molten pool
and becomes a part of the weld metal. However, the quality of the weldment was
compromised because of the formation of oxides and nitrides. The importance of
shielding the arc and molten metal from the atmosphere was realized. This led to the
use of coated metal electrodes for arc welding, which became the precursor of the