In Industry 4.0 maturity models, there are several ways to look at the mentioned staged approaches. One such maturity approach looks at the information and actual operations and manufacturing systems perspective with autonomous machines and systems as true Industry 4.0.

Some key benefits of Industry 4.0
•Enables real-time monitoring of KPIs like OEE, OPE & Quality.
•Avoiding unplanned downtimes of the plants through early identification of issues by using alerts, dashboards & reports of KPIs.
•Ability to perform preventive maintenance activities and sight opportunities for improvements in yield, production & quality.
•Reduction of losses by realtime monitoring and actions on consumption of raw material & utilities.
•Immediate corrective action with automation in SOPs & production accounting.
•Reduction in manual tasks and wastage of time looking for things.
•Reduction of Human errors & improvement in productivity of plant resources.
•Improvement in documentation & compliances.
•Immediate notifications & Remote access to take quick corrective actions.
•Authentic Database availability at any given instance.

In phased approach, whereby each stage builds upon the next one and adds more value, we move from data to information to knowledge to wisdom and action from a data perspective.

"Adoption of new age technologies like Analytics, Cloud computing, IIoT, Big Data, AI/ML, AR/ VR, RPA, Threat Intelligence and others will help to quickly implement Industry 4.0 initiatives"

Stages of Industry 4.0 Implementation
Stage 1:Integrate sensing, computation, control and networking into physical objects and infrastructure, connecting them to the Internet and to each other.

Stage 2: Data Acquisition converts physical conditions into digital form for further storage and analysis. Typically, signals from sensors (sometimes processed by sensor conditioners) are sampled, converted to digital, and stored by a computer or by a standalone device.

Stage 3: Data Analysis - The process of cleaning, analyzing, interpreting, and visualizing data to discover valuable insights that drive smarter and more effective business decisions.

Stage 4: Automated Actions - use of software to reduce the manual handling of simple tasks or a series of more complex tasks with the goal of making processes more efficient and employees more productive.

Key Elements of Industry 4.0:
• People
• Process
• Machines 
• Security and safety

Adoption of new age technologies like Analytics, Cloud computing, IIoT, Big Data, AI/ML, AR/VR, RPA, Threat Intelligence and others will help to quickly implement Industry 4.0 initiatives. Its technological foundation consists of cyber physical systems and the Internet of Things.

Analytic Process Automation is the technology that is widely used that allows to easily share data, automate tedious & complex processes and turn data into results. With Analytic Process Automation, anyone can unlock predictive and prescriptive insights that drive quick wins and fast ROI. Advantages commonly attributed to automation include higher production rates and increased productivity, more efficient use of materials, better product quality, improved safety, shorter workweeks for labour, and reduced factory lead times.

With Industry 4.0, sharing of data and intellectual property is done across supply chains and various stakeholders. Systems are being integrated between consumers and suppliers. Data is distributed all through the systems, which means a greater security scope.

Hardware, software and connectivity will all need to be secure for IoT objects to work effectively. Without security, any connected object, from refrigerators to manufacturing bots, can be hacked. Once hackers gain control, they can usurp the object's functionality and steal the user's digital data. IoT objects are potentially vulnerable targets for hackers. IoT security is more challenging than cybersecurity because of its enormous attack surface and the increased vulnerability of IoT devices. IoT Network Security Capabilities include traditional endpoint security features like antivirus and antimalware, as well as firewalls and intrusion prevention & detection systems.