IITM BS Industry 4.0 (BSMS4001): Syllabus and Tips

Industry 4.0 (BSMS4001) is a 4 credit degree level elective in the IITM BS Data Science programme. It is a level 4 course. It shows how data science answers real questions in modern manufacturing and supply chains, such as choosing suppliers, keeping stock and setting prices. It has no prerequisite and no corequisite.

The instructor is Prof. Rahul R Marathe of the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras. He also teaches Business Analytics at the diploma level.

What the course aims to do

The course page gives four aims. You should be able to describe the different sides of Industry 4.0 and match its questions to suitable data science methods. You should also be able to build data science tools for it and design business models built around data.

What you learn

The course runs for 12 weeks.

Weeks 1 to 3: What Industry 4.0 means

You start with how industry changed over time to reach this stage. Then you look at the main pillars of Industry 4.0, and at what it looks like in India.

Weeks 4 to 7: Data methods on the factory side

Week 4 treats choosing a supplier as a classification problem, which ties back to your machine learning courses. The next weeks cover modern manufacturing, prognosis and Quality 4.0 (quality control in this new setting).

Weeks 8 to 10: Stock, prices and delivery

These weeks move to the business side. You study inventory optimisation, dynamic pricing (prices that change with demand) and Logistics 4.0.

Weeks 11 and 12: What comes next

The course ends by looking at the future of the manufacturing business and where Industry 4.0 may go in the next ten years.

How it is assessed

The course page lists 12 weeks of coursework, weekly online assignments, 2 in-person invigilated quizzes and 1 in-person invigilated end term exam. See how Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 work for the general rules.

Where it counts

• The handbook's course table lists it as an L4 course with the tag HM/BD. See the DS electives list.
• The BS degree level needs 2 level 4 or higher courses in the data science stream, and 4 credits from the HS/MG stream. BD appears to mean the data science stream and HM the humanities and management type. The handbook does not say how a course with two tags is counted, so confirm with support before you rely on it for either rule.
• It is not part of any minor.
• The March 2026 table marks it as running in September 2026 and January 2027, but not in May 2026.
• The ES handbook lists it (as MS4001) as an open elective for Electronic Systems students, with no prerequisite.

Who finds it hard

• Students with no idea of how a factory or warehouse works. Words like supplier selection, inventory and logistics can feel far from coding.
• Students who forgot their machine learning basics. Classification and prediction come back in the middle weeks.
• Students who leave the weekly assignments to the last day. With 12 weeks of new case areas, catching up is hard.

How to prepare

• Revise classification from Machine Learning Techniques and regression from Business Analytics or your statistics courses.
• Before each week, read one short news story on that week's topic, such as dynamic pricing in ride apps. It gives the lecture a real picture.
• Keep a two column note for every week: the business question on one side, the data method on the other. That matches the course aim of linking questions to methods.

What to take before and after

Nothing is required first. If you took Business Analytics (BSMS2002), you already know the instructor's style of starting from a business problem. Financial Forensics is another level 4 elective with the same HM/BD tag, if you want more applied data work in a business field.

Common questions

Is Industry 4.0 a coding heavy course?

The course page does not name any programming language or tool. It talks about building data science tools. But the listed assessments are only assignments, quizzes and an end term exam, with no project or OPPE.

Is it only for students from mechanical or production backgrounds?

No. There is no prerequisite. The first three weeks explain what Industry 4.0 is before any method is used.

How is a level 4 course different from a level 3 course?

The course code shows the level, so a 4xxx code is level 4. The BS level has rules that need level 4 or higher courses. The credit system guide explains how levels and credits fit together.