Chapter 1: 走进智造时代 / Entering the Smart Manufacturing Era

上周你刚收到的、印着专属动漫角色的修正带，是不是手感刚好、图案一点都没印歪？你或许不知道，这件小小的文具，很可能诞生于一个没有油污、几乎没有工人来回走动的“黑灯工厂”里——从你下单选图案，到它被快递送到你手里，全程只有几个技术人员在电脑前监控，剩下的生产、质检、打包环节，全由智能设备自动完成。这就是我们正在进入的“智造时代”。

The customized correction tape with your favorite anime character that you received last week fits perfectly in your hand, and the pattern is printed without any flaw. You may not know that this small stationery item was most likely produced in a "dark factory" with no oil stains and almost no workers walking around — from the moment you place an order and select the pattern, to the moment it is delivered to you by courier, only a few technicians monitor the process on computers, while all production, quality inspection, and packaging steps are completed automatically by smart equipment. This is the "smart manufacturing era" we are entering.

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1.1 从蒸汽机到数字大脑：工业革命的四次跃迁

From Steam Engine to Digital Brain: Four Leaps of the Industrial Revolution

要理解智能制造，首先要回看人类工业发展的脉络。过去两百多年，人类一共经历了四次工业革命，每一次革命都彻底改变了大家的生活方式，而第四次工业革命，就是我们正在经历的智造时代。

To understand smart manufacturing, we must first look back at the history of human industrial development. Over the past 200 years, humanity has experienced four industrial revolutions, each of which has completely changed our way of life. The fourth industrial revolution is the smart manufacturing era we are currently experiencing.

第一次工业革命：蒸汽机把人类从体力劳动中解放了一部分

The First Industrial Revolution: The Steam Engine Partially Liberated Humans from Manual Labor

1765年，英国人哈格里夫斯发明了珍妮纺纱机，这被认为是第一次工业革命的开端。在珍妮纺纱机出现之前，纺一匹棉布需要一个家庭老小忙活整整一个月，而且质量还不稳定。珍妮纺纱机一次能纺8根纱线，效率是手工纺纱的8倍，后来改进的版本一次能纺上百根，一个工人的产量相当于几十个手工纺纱工。

In 1765, Englishman James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny, which is widely recognized as the start of the First Industrial Revolution. Before the Spinning Jenny was invented, it took a whole family a full month to weave a bolt of cotton cloth, and the quality was also unstable. The Spinning Jenny could spin 8 threads at a time, 8 times more efficient than hand spinning. Later improved versions could spin hundreds of threads at a time, and one worker's output was equivalent to that of dozens of hand spinners.

1785年，瓦特改良的蒸汽机开始用在纺织工厂里，从此工厂不用再靠水力、风力这种不稳定的动力， anywhere都能建厂。蒸汽机还被装到了火车和轮船上，原来从北京到上海要走3个月，蒸汽轮船出现之后只要1个月，火车普及之后只要2天。对于普通人来说，第一次工业革命带来的最直观变化是：原来只有贵族才穿得起的棉布衣服，变成了普通人能随便买的日用品；原来跨城市出行是“长途旅行”，变成了“周末就能去隔壁城市玩”。

In 1785, James Watt's improved steam engine began to be used in textile factories, so factories no longer had to rely on unstable power sources such as water and wind, and could be built anywhere. Steam engines were also installed on trains and steamships. It used to take 3 months to travel from Beijing to Shanghai, but after the advent of steamships, it only took 1 month, and after trains became popular, it only took 2 days. For ordinary people, the most intuitive change brought by the First Industrial Revolution was: cotton clothes that only nobles could afford in the past became daily necessities that ordinary people could buy casually; cross-city travel, which used to be a "long trip", became a "weekend trip to a neighboring city".

你可以用下面的公式算一下效率提升的幅度：如果手工纺一匹布需要30天，珍妮纺纱机只需要4天，那么生产效率提升率$\eta$为： $$\eta = \frac{T_{manual} - T_{machine}}{T_{manual}} \times 100\% = \frac{30 - 4}{30} \times 100\% \approx 86.7\%$$

You can use the following formula to calculate the magnitude of efficiency improvement: if it takes 30 days to weave a bolt of cloth by hand, but only 4 days with the Spinning Jenny, the efficiency improvement rate $\eta$ is:

第二次工业革命：电力+流水线让“大批量生产”成为可能

The Second Industrial Revolution: Electricity + Assembly Line Made "Mass Production" Possible

19世纪末，电力开始大规模普及，这是第二次工业革命的核心标志。电力的好处是比蒸汽机更灵活、更干净，工厂里可以装电灯，不用再靠自然光干活，各种电动设备也比蒸汽设备更安全、更高效。

At the end of the 19th century, electricity began to be widely used, which is the core symbol of the Second Industrial Revolution. The advantage of electricity is that it is more flexible and cleaner than steam engines. Factories could install electric lights, so they no longer had to work by natural light, and various electric equipment was also safer and more efficient than steam equipment.

第二次工业革命最伟大的发明是流水线。1913年，福特汽车公司把流水线用到了汽车生产上，原来造一辆T型车需要12个小时，流水线普及之后只需要2小时48分钟，成本直接降了60%。原来一辆T型车要卖850美元，普通工人要干4年才能买得起，后来只要几个月工资就能买。流水线不仅造汽车，还造日用品、食品，你喝的瓶装饮料、吃的袋装零食，都是流水线生产的，所以价格才能这么便宜。

The greatest invention of the Second Industrial Revolution was the assembly line. In 1913, Ford Motor Company applied the assembly line to car production. It used to take 12 hours to build a Model T, but after the assembly line was popularized, it only took 2 hours and 48 minutes, and the cost was directly reduced by 60%. A Model T used to cost $850, and an ordinary worker had to work for 4 years to afford it, but later it only took a few months' salary to buy one. Assembly lines are not only used to make cars, but also daily necessities and food. The bottled drinks you drink and the bagged snacks you eat are all produced on assembly lines, so the prices can be so low.

对于普通人来说，第二次工业革命带来的最大变化是“商品从稀缺变成普惠”：原来只有富人能用的起的东西，比如汽车、冰箱、洗衣机，变成了普通家庭的标配。

For ordinary people, the biggest change brought by the Second Industrial Revolution was that "goods went from scarce to universal": things that only the rich could afford in the past, such as cars, refrigerators, and washing machines, became standard equipment for ordinary families.

第三次工业革命：计算机+自动化让“机器代替人干重复活”成为现实

The Third Industrial Revolution: Computers + Automation Made "Machines Replacing Humans for Repetitive Work" a Reality

20世纪中叶，计算机被发明出来，第三次工业革命拉开序幕。计算机最开始是用在军事和科研领域，后来慢慢普及到工厂里，出现了“数控机床”“工业机器人”这些设备。

In the middle of the 20th century, computers were invented, marking the beginning of the Third Industrial Revolution. Computers were first used in military and scientific research fields, and later gradually popularized in factories, giving rise to equipment such as "CNC machine tools" and "industrial robots".

以前工厂里焊汽车，需要老师傅练三五年才能上手，焊出来的质量还参差不齐，而且焊的时候火星四溅，工作环境很危险。工业机器人出现之后，只要把焊接参数输入系统，机器人就能精准地焊好每一个焊点，质量比老师傅还稳定，而且不会累，可以24小时干活。以前工厂里做质检，要靠工人用眼睛看零件有没有瑕疵，一天看几千个就会眼瞎，现在用摄像头加人工智能算法，一分钟能检测上万个零件，准确率还能到99%以上。

In the past, welding cars in factories required experienced masters to practice for three or five years before they could get started, the quality of welding was uneven, and the working environment was very dangerous because sparks flew everywhere during welding. After industrial robots were introduced, as long as the welding parameters were input into the system, the robot could accurately weld every solder joint, the quality was more stable than that of experienced masters, and it would not get tired and could work 24 hours a day. In the past, quality inspection in factories relied on workers to check if parts had defects with their naked eyes, and they would get eye fatigue after checking thousands of parts a day. Now, using cameras and artificial intelligence algorithms, more than 10,000 parts can be inspected per minute, with an accuracy rate of over 99%.

第三次工业革命让工厂的效率提升了十几倍，但是也出现了一个问题：每个工厂的设备、系统都是独立的，信息不互通。比如生产部门知道要赶1000个订单，但是采购部门不知道，导致原材料不够，只能停工等料；或者采购了太多原材料，订单没那么多，导致库存积压，浪费钱。这就是“信息孤岛”问题，也是第四次工业革命要解决的核心问题。

The Third Industrial Revolution increased factory efficiency by more than ten times, but it also created a problem: the equipment and systems of each factory were independent and information was not shared. For example, the production department knew that they needed to rush 1,000 orders, but the procurement department did not, leading to insufficient raw materials and production stoppages waiting for materials; or too many raw materials were purchased, but there were not enough orders, leading to inventory backlog and waste. This is the "information silo" problem, which is also the core problem that the Fourth Industrial Revolution aims to solve.

第四次工业革命：工业互联网+智能制造让“工厂像人一样会思考”

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Industrial Internet + Smart Manufacturing Makes "Factories Think Like Humans"

2010年以后，物联网、大数据、人工智能这些技术慢慢成熟，人类进入了第四次工业革命，核心就是“工业互联网”和“智能制造”。