Smart Manufacturing Surge: Key Drivers Behind the Industry’s Rapid Growth

The rapid rise of smart manufacturing has been greatly aided by the convergence of the digital and physical worlds vis-à-vis improvements made in various modern technologies, including Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing, augmented reality, and big data.

As the general public becomes more familiar with this new solution, the obvious question most folks ask is “what’s the difference between smart manufacturing and automation”?

Author Rose Martin explains:

This means that tomorrow’s smart factories will be able to integrate the supply chain, production line, and quality control according to dynamic market requirements. This will lead to completely connected and flexible manufacturing systems capable of creating personalized and customized products as and when needed.

In fact, the only things they’ll have to rely on are smart sensors and configurable robots.

Now, while the idea of setting up a smart factory might seem like it’s a few decades away from realization, rapid development across a wide range of technologies is fueling the shift towards a self-optimizing factory floor like never before.

Several manufacturers, even ones in developing countries, have already started implementing these technologies.

To this end, it’s worth stating that the smart factory concept isn’t going to be the end of Industry 4.0. Rather, it’ll remain an ongoing process where manufacturers will keep adding more powerful computing and analytical capabilities to adapt and grow as the market demands change.

The following is the beginning of an infographic from CRFQ.com (link to the full infographic appears at the bottom of the page). In it, you will find statistics that illustrate how quickly the world is moving towards smart manufacturing. It also looks at the challenges faced by manufacturers.

Read the full story on our sister site EBNonline.com