The European Union describes Industry 5.0 as the shift to a sustainable, human-centric and resilient industry.¹ It is also widely described as the ‘triple bottom line’ of financial results, where social, environmental and economic factors are considered as key to the business’s future.

The trigger for this intersectional way of thinking about sustainability was accelerated by the shock that COVID-19 caused to the sector. In the US alone, 90% of automotive manufacturing ground to a halt due to worker illness and supply chain uncertainty.² The complex challenge of needing to operate without human workers but also solve never-seen-before problems pushed more manufacturers to adopt technology and focus on resilience.

This is how Industry 5.0 began to take shape.

The emergence of digital twins marked a key shift from Industry 4.0 to 5.0. While 4.0 emphasised intelligent machines, digital twins introduced virtualised environments and expanded the scope of the industrial metaverse. By providing a two-way flow of information, both from the IoT-enabled machines on the factory floor and the human operators, digital twins set the scene for a collaborative workspace in which new technologies, such as robots, can join seamlessly. 

Digital twins are also enabling the Cobot; a robot colleague that works alongside the human worker, particularly for repetitive or strenuous tasks. By simulating the presence of a cobot in a working environment, researchers have been able to automate safety analysis and identify potential hazards to their human colleagues.³ Only once safety is assured can the cobots enter the factory floor. 

The MiSSi robot companion is a prime example of this synergy. Designed to operate in complex manufacturing settings, MiSSi integrates real-time sensor data with digital twin environments to map and adapt to human workflows. Its ability to detect anomalies and respond dynamically to environmental conditions makes it ideal for augmenting human teams safely. By leveraging advanced analytics and edge AI, MiSSi not only boosts productivity but also ensures that safety remains a core design feature in collaborative automation.

One study has found that the presence of industrial robots reduces the rate of injury. When robot presence was increased to 1.34 robots per 1000 workers, the rate of injury fell by 1.2 injuries per 100 full-time workers.⁴

In their Hamburg factory, BMW are trialling a humanoid cobot that performs strenuous and ergonomically awkward tasks. The 70kg, 170cm robot can carry up to 20kg and works without the need for a break.⁵