No abstract

Smart dust is an autonomous sensing, computing, and communication system that can be packed into a cubic-millimeter mote to form the basis of integrated, massively distributed sensor networks. The purpose of this manuscript is to identify potential applications of smart dust in product lifecycle management with a focus on the industrial economic sector. Resting upon empirical data from the European DACH region, we describe six applications: (1) Advancement of requirements engineering, (2) Improvement of manufacturing processes, (3) Enhancement of logistics monitoring, (4) Optimization of operations, (5) Ameliorated maintenance and repair processes, and (6) Augmented retirement planning. Bearing the exploratory, qualitative approach and early-stage character of applications in mind, we can reason that smart dust offers great potentials to both product lifecycle management and research on it.