The implementation of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing: from lean manufacturing to product design

Abstract

With the emergence of Industry 4.0, digitalization and intelligent manufacturing are vital to ensure competitivity, especially for manufacturers reliant on legacy machines. Upgrading legacy machines with cyber physical technology under Industry 4.0 frameworks can enable connection of these machines to existing IoT networks to allow the sharing and exchange of production information. In this paper, a legacy machine used in sheet metal folding operations is upgraded by integrating switch sensors which provide detailed data on the machine status to stakeholders, enabling in-depth analysis of the production activity before and after the implementation of lean manufacturing methods. Furthermore, it is shown that the data collected can be applied to conduct dynamic value stream mapping (DVSM) in near real time to provide deeper level insight into manufacturing processes. More detailed mapping enables identification of wastes involved with labour and design. Therefore, an innovative graphical technique is proposed to improve the flattened pattern to reduce manual handling and ease bottlenecks identified by VSM. From the collected VSM data, a leanness measure was established to provide objective and quantitative evaluation of the process performance.

Action research of lean 4.0 application to the maintenance of hydraulic systems in steel industry

“…According to Huang et al (2022), an Australian company increased the operational reliability of its entire process by installing sensors associated with Industry 4.0, which provided real-time data, including work conditions, configuration and tools to assist managers in decision-making. The same company also adopted some concepts of Lean philosophy that generated improvements in the identification and solution of bottlenecks, providing greater assertiveness in meeting production goals.…”

How Industry 4.0 and Sensors Can Leverage Product Design: Opportunities and Challenges

“…In addition, there is an increase in the need to integrate software into hardware products to deliver higher customer value while simultaneously increasing operational efficiencies across the organization [ 10 ]. As a result, Industry 4.0 has become a famous development in recent years to address the need to interconnect machines, products, and people [ 11 ]. It raises collaboration productivity by facilitating linked systems, devices, and human resources to create quality, customized, high-value products.…”

“…It involves manufacturing activities that transform raw materials into products, thus providing added value. With the increasing competition among manufacturing countries, developing and adopting advanced technologies to increase efficiencies and reduce costs have become a critical strategy [ 11 ]. As a result, the world has experienced an industrial revolution termed “Industry 4.0”, characterized by the broad application of technologies that significantly change established practices.…”

Semantic web and machine learning techniques addressing semantic interoperability in Industry 4.0

“…Thanks to these standards, compatibility is achieved in RAMI4.0. The Industrial Internet Reference Architecture (IIRA) is an open cross-industry architecture developed by IIC based on IIoT standards (Huang et al , 2022). It has a similar architecture and structure to RAMI4.0 architecture, but it focuses more on business, functional and implementation viewpoints instead of merging physical and cyber assets in an administrative shell.…”