EVOLUTION OF

PRODUCTION SYTEMS –
Industrial Revolutions
LECTURE 6(a)
 1. Industrial Revolution
▪The process of change from an agrarian and
handicraft economy to one dominated by
industrialization and machine manufacturing
▪These technological changes introduced
novel ways of working and living and
fundamentally transformed the society
▪This process began in Britain in the 18th
century and from there spread to other
parts of the world
▪Currently at the 4th Stage
Industrial Revolutions
 How did Factories get Power to
their Machines before Electricity?
 How did Factories get Power to
their Machines before Electricity?
Industrial Revolution: Smokestacks
Polluting Pittsburgh
Coal was king of the Industrial
Revolution
 The Industrial Revolution made
our lives easier, but did it make
them better?
Industrial Revolutions
 2. Brief Timelines
▪1760: First Industrial Revolution
✓ Started in Britain with the steam engine, which
enabled new manufacturing processes and the
creation of factories
▪1860: Second Industrial Revolution
✓ Mass production in new industries like steel, oil
and electricity. The light bulb and telephone
were both invented during this era.
▪1960: Third Industrial Revolution
✓ Also known as the “Digital Revolution,” this time
period launched the inventions of the personal
computer, the semiconductors, and the internet.
▪2016: Fourth Industrial Revolution
✓ Brings together the advances of AI, robotics,
IoT, machine learning and other technologies
 1st Industrial Revolution
▪The First Industrial Revolution used water and
steam power to mechanize production.
▪It started at the end of the 18th century to
the beginning of the 19th century the biggest
changes came in manufacturing in the form of
mechanization

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Industrial Revolutions
 2nd Industrial Revolution
▪The Second IR used electric power to create
mass production
▪It started in 19th century with massive
technological advancements in the field of
industries that helped the emergence of a
new sources of energy, electricity, gas and
oil
Industrial Revolutions
 3rd Industrial Revolution
▪The Third Industrial Revolution, or Digital
Revolution, began in the late 1900s and is
characterized by the spread of automation
and digitization through the use of electronics
and computers, and the discovery of nuclear
energy
▪The third revolution brought forth the rise of
electronics, telecommunications and computers
 3rd Industrial Revolution
▪The technological forces driving this
revolution tend to have the following three
downside biases:
✓ Advances in technology tend to be capital
intensive (favoring those who already have capital
and other resources)
✓ Skills-biased (favoring those who already have a
high levels of technical skills)
✓ Labor saving (reducing the total number of jobs in
the economy)
✓ The risk is that workers in high-skilled, blue-collar
manufacturing jobs will be displaced
Industrial Revolutions
Fourth Industrial Revolution
 4th Industrial Revolution
▪This is the digital revolution that has been
occurring since the middle of the last
century.
▪The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of
describing the blurring of boundaries
between the physical and digital worlds.
▪It's a fusion of advances in:
✓ Artificial Intelligence (AI),
✓ Robotics,
✓ Internet Of Things (IOT),
✓ 3D Printing,
✓ Quantum Computing, and
✓ Other emerging technologies
 4th Industrial Revolution
▪Competition Platforms now based on modern
technologies
▪It is about a high-tech industry development
strategy
✓ The firm’s success is guided by its manufacturing
strategy
▪Smart and proactive manufacturing implies
fully-integrated, collaborative manufacturing
systems
✓ That respond in real time to meet changing
demands and conditions in the factory, in the
supply network, and in customer needs

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5G Technologies will Seamlessly
fuel the IoT Revolution
3. Industrialized World

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4. Developing World; Kenya