WEG’s acquisition of Mvisia shows manufacturers are keen on Industry 4.0

Contxto – Brazilian Mvisia has reached the end of its startup journey. On June 23, WEG, a multinational motor manufacturer, announced it had bought 51 percent of the AI startup’s shares. Like many other large-sized businesses, WEG acknowledged the need for innovation through the move.

“The acquisition is part of the company’s strategy to add new resources to WEG Digital Solutions and the IoT platform, WEGnology, which was recently launched with the purpose of addressing the demands of the Industry 4.0,” it said in a statement.

Undoubtedly WEG’s plans to come into the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” mesh well with Mvisia’s strengths: Data-gathering through computer imaging and machine learning for manufacturing processes.

Likewise Mvisia will be allowed to continue operating independently and develop its products.

Mvisia and Industry 4.0

While it’s unknown whether negotiations between WEG and Mvisia began prior to the coronavirus pandemic, betting on autonomous learning and IoT tech makes sense within our current context.

Manufacturers across the globe have walked a tightrope in trying to decide whether to bring factory workers in or not. But resources like Mvisia’s computer vision tech can help oversee operations. It, coupled with robotics can keep some staff home (or unemployed… but let’s not step on that landmine right now).

Adopting this type of technology also brings about significant changes to workers themselves. Either they must be trained to use these products or otherwise more skilled labor is hired to take over.

Trends in Industry 4.0

Just the same, the job market at major manufacturers and everywhere are set for major disruptions in our post-Covid world.

What the experts say: “Manufacturers need to assess their current level of digital maturity, understand the business and technical challenges, and clearly envision a roadmap to thrive in this digital paradigm,” notes Rohit Gupta, VP and Head Head of Manufacturing, Logistics, Energy and Utilities at Cognizant. 

In short, companies shouldn’t just buy-in on the Industry 4.0 buzz just because “everyone else is doing it.” 

Instead, tech adoption should be a gradual approach. That means that startups can help these companies understand how their tech can mesh with the manufacturer’s current state of operations.

It’s the ethical and useful thing to do.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Brazil!

-ML