The emerging industrial environment is often referred to as the ‘Smart Factory’. But what exactly does the term mean? In this article, which was published by Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) on www.industrie4.0.gtai.de, they explore the ‘Smart Factory’ concept as defined in Industrie 4.0 (the German strategic initiative to establish Germany as a lead market and provider of advanced manufacturing solutions).

 

Smart Factory

 

The merging of the virtual and the physical worlds through cyber-physical systems and the resulting fusion of technical processes and business processes are leading the way to a new industrial age best defined by the “smart factory” concept.

 

The merging of the virtual and the physical worlds through cyber-physical systems and the resulting fusion of technical processes and business processes are leading the way to a new industrial age best defined by the “smart factory” concept.

 

The deployment of cyber-physical systems in production systems gives birth to the “smart factory.” Smart factory products, resources and processes are characterized by cyber-physical systems; providing significant real-time quality, time, resource, and cost advantages in comparison with classic production systems.

 

The smart factory is designed according to sustainable and service-oriented business practices. These insist upon adaptability, flexibility, self-adaptability and learning characteristics, fault tolerance, and risk management.

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