A maturity assessment approach for conceiving context-specific roadmaps in the Industry 4.0 era
(2019)
The digital transformation of the production sector is setting the scene for a major industrial change. The need for supporting companies in this transformation is currently covered by several maturity models, generally operationalized through standardized questionnaires, which provide, as an outcome, an assessment of the current maturity stage and a set of general improvement recommendations according to it. However, to provide companies with a more tangible support, there is a need for more individual approach. In order to deal with this need, this paper proposes, following a design science research framework, a novel approach based on Problem-Based Learning for structuring the assessment procedure as a dialectic process. This approach aims at facilitating the contextualization of the assessed company and, consequently, the identification of context-specific improvement recommendations. The proposed approach, supported by a maturity model used for framing information collected during the assessment process, is tested in three industrial cases. Although these have been assessed at the same maturity stage, different improvement recommendations have been proposed according to contextual factors such as strategic goals, core processes and key performance indicators.
The Smart Production Vision
(2022)
In this chapter, the Smart Production vision is discussed. The Smart Production approach is developed and described, and Smart Production is positioned in relation to Industry 4.0. Smart Production operationalize the journey towards Industry 4.0 and beyond. First, the need for a new approach to manufacturing is discussed, and from the perspectives of Industry 4.0, the Smart Production concept is derived. Then the framework is explored and finally, the approach is outlined. The Smart Production vision is an approach to make an integrated production system smarter by continuous digitizing, automating, and organizing towards supporting the company specific missions.
This chapter will introduce the second part of the book. This part contains a collection of chapters aimed at supporting the SMEs in the transformation toward the Smart Production vision. In this part, different approaches are presented, which can assist SMEs in the formulation of a smart production vision and in the identification and prioritization of relevant initiatives, guiding the outline of a project roadmap. Furthermore, the part will introduce different regional innovation platforms in Denmark and Germany which support the SME transformations. Finally, it will be discussed how subscription-based methods could be used by SMEs to cut upfront investments and reduce requirements for digital competencies.
In this paper we present a novel method for performing in site real time quality inspection (QI) and consequently, digitalization of manual processes performed by human workers. It complements and improves our previous work in this area, which makes use of telemetry gathered from a smartwatch to classify manual actions as successful or unsuccessful. This new methodology provides the worker with a real time capable, robust and more accurate quality inspector. This work enhances the existing system through the elimination of input from the user by making use of a BIOX bracelet that detects gestures. The signal processing and classification methods are simplified and optimised by using assembled neural networks thus merging together the data gathered from multiple signal sources. Consequently, the overall QI system is improved with around 70%, thus furthering the necessary development needed to have a system ready to be used on a production environment.
This minitrack will address scientific and technical research on how traditional production systems are transformed into next generation smart production systems. It comprises a mix of presentations from leading industries (automotive and aircraft) as well as from well-known research institutions (Fraunhofer society, Germany) and universities (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, University of Bergamo, Aalborg University).
The minitrack will foster discussions concerning the strategies companies are adopting for managing such transformation, the need for new competences for sustaining it, the implementation of new digital technologies and their impact on the existing production systems.
The transformation of the manufacturing sector towards Industry 4.0 is setting the scene for a major industrial change. Currently, the need for assisting companies in this transformation is covered by a number of maturity models that assess their digital maturity and provide indications accordingly. However, in order to provide operational recommendations to diverse companies, there is a need for making the assessment company-specific. To cope with this challenge, this paper provides an illustration of a new digital maturity assessment approach - 360 Digital Maturity Assessment - which is based on the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model.
The advent of the industrial digital transformation and the related technologies of the Industry 4.0 agenda has uncovered new concepts and terminology in the manufacturing domain. Clear definitions represent a solid foundation for supporting the manufacturing research community in addressing this field consistently. This paper addresses this need focusing on the “smart factory”. Starting from a review of the extant literature and integrating it with the outcome of a Delphi study, we propose a new definition of a “smart factory” and discuss its key characteristics. These are related to interconnectivity capabilities and adaptability to the surrounding environment in order to generate and appropriate value. Eventually, such characteristics are exemplified in an empirical context. The aim of this paper is to provide the research community with an updated definition of a smart factory taking both industrial and societal values into account. Furthermore, it may represent a reference for practitioners engaged in the digital transformation of their factories.