About
About this blueprint
What it is
World Class Manufacturing in the Age of AI — Skip the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a five-part blueprint on manufacturing operations in the age of AI. It argues that Industry 4.0 under-delivered because it was ordered wrongly, not because it was wrong; that two things have since crossed a threshold; and that six organizing principles follow. Sixteen sections, roughly 130 pages, released part by part, free to read without an account.
How it is written
Each part names its sources and states its falsification tests: the observations that would show the argument to be wrong. Each section opens with key messages written by the author, not generated, so a reader, a citation and an AI agent all get the same sentence. Version 1.0 · August 2026.
Who wrote it
Hendrik Lojek, Principal & Founder of ForgeShift Advisory. Formerly Senior Director Manufacturing Process Technology at Magna International, leading Industry 4.0 across more than 60 manufacturing facilities, and Strategy Consultant at PwC Strategy&. M.Sc. Industrial Engineering, TU Braunschweig.
Who publishes it
ForgeShift Advisory, a manufacturing operations and AI transformation consultancy in Toronto, which works with manufacturers to put these principles into practice on the plant floor.
Quoting and citing: Terms of use. Questions and corrections: Contact.