From Europe with "Industry 4.0" and from the US with "Smart Factory", the industrial model faces an unprecedented change. In this book we discover the 20 most important technologies that large companies are developing to continue dominating the market and thanks to which small and medium companies could increase their competitiveness and survive in a global market. This book, written in a language understandable to non-specialists, is intended to help as a navigation chart and compass, for all those who will face this fascinating challenge.IoT, AGV, RFID, RTLS, Additive Manufacturing, Collaborative Robots, PLM, Digital Twin, CPS, ... are some examples of the KETs (key enabling technologies) that we are going to show you.

The concept of Industry 4.0 appeared for the first time in an article published in November 2011 by the German government that resulted from an initiative regarding a high-tech strategy for 2020. Since then, several cutting-edge technologies evolved at a very fast pace and they are promising to play a crucial role in the development of smart factories. What are the reasons that are pushing us towards a 4th industrial revolution? What are the key technologies? How industrial countries are facing it? What are the main challenges? This book is designed to provide managers, engineers and students with the full picture of the 4th Industrial Revolution, its implications to organisations, its technologies and their applications. This book is divided into 4 main parts: PART 1: OVERVIEW. This section provides a general overview of the 4th industrial revolution. Do we really need a step change? What are the key technologies and the main implications on our way of producing goods? How are industrial countries facing this trend?PART 2: THE KEY TECHNOLOGIES. In this section, we will go through a set of technologies which will be the bricks to build digital factories, the final goal of Industry 4.0. For each technology, we will provide a brief historical overview, we will explain how the technology works and what solutions are currently available on the market. Finally, we will present some concrete ideas for the implementation of pilot projects in an existing facility.PART 3: THE SMART FACTORY. In this section, we will provide a proper definition of what a Smart Factory is. Indeed, designing a Smart Factory is much more than putting some digital technologies together, just like learning a new language is much more than putting some new words together. A Smart Factory combines smart solutions to create a virtuous environment in which workers may take advantage of their cognitive skills instead of doing repetitive tasks. A step-by-step approach for the implementation of a Smart Factory will be provided, and some practical examples of existing factories will be described.PART 4: REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS IN DEMAND. The last part of the book describes the requirements that companies must take into account if they are willing to develop new smart solutions inside their production facilities. A set of soft and hard skills will be required as well: soft skills include risk management, change management, creativity, flexibility, whereas hard skills include subjects like mechatronics, material engineering, computer technology and much more

"Industry 4.0: Smart Factories" comes after our first book "Industry 4.0: Navigating the Manufacturing Revolution in ASEAN" (2019), and takes us through the key technologies as the pillars to build up a Smart Factory to transform the current manufacturing operations into a brand new model driven by the innovation based on the real-time data collection, processing and analysis. We also present our understanding of the principles of building a real smart factory. As a surging region, ASEAN is on its way to gain a lot of value from this round of revolution and catch up with the leading economies and find our place in the global value chain.

Business innovation and industrial intelligence are paving the way for a future in which smart factories, intelligent machines, networked processes and Big Data are combined to foster industrial growth. The maturity and growth of instrumentation, monitoring and automation as key technology drivers support Industry 4.0 as a viable, competent and actionable business model. This book offers a primer, helping readers understand this paradigm shift from industry 1.0 to industry 4.0. The focus is on grasping the necessary pre-conditions, development & technological aspects that conceptually describe this transformation, along with the practices, models and real-time experience needed to achieve sustainable smart manufacturing technologies. The primary goal is to address significant questions of what, how and why in this context, such as:What is Industry 4.0?What is the current status of its implementation?What are the pillars of Industry 4.0?How can Industry 4.0 be effectively implemented?How are firms exploiting the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and other emerging technologies to improve their production and services?How can the implementation of Industry 4.0 be accelerated?How is Industry 4.0 changing the workplace landscape?Why is this melding of the virtual and physical world needed for smart production engineering environments?Why is smart production a game-changing new form of product design and manufacturing?

This book relates research being implemented in three main research areas: secure connectivity and intelligent systems, real-time analytics and manufacturing knowledge and virtual manufacturing. Manufacturing SMEs and MNCs want to see how Industry 4.0 is implemented. On the other hand, groundbreaking research on this topic is constantly growing. For the aforesaid reason, the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), has created the model factory initiative. In the model factory, manufacturers, technology providers and the broader industry can (i) learn how I4.0 technologies are implemented on real-world manufacturing use-cases, (ii) test process improvements enabled by such technologies at the model factory facility, without disrupting their own operations, (iii) co-develop technology solutions and (iv) support the adoption of solutions at their everyday industrial operation. The book constitutes a clear base ground not only for inspiration of researchers, but also for companies who will want to adopt smart manufacturing approaches coming from Industry 4.0 in their pathway to digitization.

Topics in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Industry 4.0 Forward thinking resource discussing emerging AI and IoT technologies and how they are applied to Industry 4.0 Topics in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Industry 4.0 discusses the design principles, technologies, and applications of emerging AI and IoT solutions on Industry 4.0, explaining how to make improvements in infrastructure through emerging technologies. Providing a clear connection with different technologies such as IoT, Big Data, AR and VR, and Blockchain, this book presents security, privacy, trust, and other issues whilst delving into real-world problems and case studies. The text takes a highly practical approach, with a clear insight on how readers can increase productivity by drastically shortening the time period between the development of a new product and its delivery to customers in the market by 50%. This book also discusses how to save energy across systems to ensure competitiveness in a global market, and become more responsive in how they produce products and services for their consumers, such as by investing in flexible production lines. Written by highly qualified authors, Topics in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Industry 4.0 explores sample topics such as: Quantum machine learning, neural network implementation, and cloud and data analytics for effective analysis of industrial data Computer vision, emerging networking technologies, industrial data spaces, and an industry vision for 2030 in both developing and developed nations Novel or improved nature-inspired optimization algorithms in enhancing Industry 5.0 and the connectivity of any components for smart environment Future professions in agriculture, medicine, education, fitness, R&D, and transport and communication as a result of new technologies Aimed at researchers and students in the interdisciplinary fields of Smart Manufacturing and Smart Applications, Topics in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Industry 4.0 provides the perfect overview of technology from the perspective of modern society and operational environment.

Technology Innovation Pillars for Industry 4.0: Challenges, Improvements, and Case Studies discusses the latest innovations in the application of technologies to Industry 4.0 and the nine pillars and how they relate, support, and bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds we now live in. This book discusses each of the nine pillars and the roles they play in the rapid transformation of the design and operation, and offers applications and case studies supporting Industry 4.0 technologies. It presents the supply chain organizational activities utilizing cyber- physical systems architectures and talks about the advantages of intelligent manufacturing and the ability to proactively detect and respond to events, to improve quality and yield, reduce downtime, and lead to better overall equipment effectiveness among other advantages in smart factory operations. This reference book provides a great resource for undergraduate and graduate students, industrial and manufacturing engineers, and engineers of related disciplines along with business professionals, explaining what the nine pillars are and how they relate to Industry 4.0 and smart factories.