Smart factories are state-of-the-art manufacturing environments that, by combining technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) with artificial intelligence (AI), change the way we think about manufacturing.
But what does it mean to work in a smart factory? What are the real benefits for our SMEs? Find out the future of industrial production. Read on.
Table of contents
What is a smart factory?
Smart factory is a production site where the latest technologies and robots are used to improve production processes to the extreme. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and manufacturing execution systems (MES) then do the rest.
Processes such as 3D printing allow for the production of customised components and rapid prototyping, while augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are used for worker training and robot maintenance.
Sustainability is also an important goal; in a smart factory we find environmentally friendly practices such as material recycling and energy efficiency.
Finally, there is human-machine collaboration: humans perform control and supervision tasks, while machines physically perform the more complex and risky operations.
What benefits does it bring?
- increased productivity;
- process automation;
- continuous monitoring;
- greater flexibility in production.
Smart factory and smart manufacturing: what is the difference?
- IoT;
- big data;
- cloud computing;
- 3D modelling;
- AI;
- AR and VR;
- blockchain.
4 Italian smart factories
It cannot be ruled out that Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may aspire to one day become smart factories through the use of the above-mentioned smart technologies.
Here are some examples of Italian SMEs that are already smart factories:
1. Rold
2. GEA
3. Goglio
4. Festo
Digital twins and smart factories: a winning combination
Digital twins belong to the world of 4.0 industry, but what do they have to do with smart factories? What is the correlation?
Digital twins are an interactive digital copy of a complex object or system: these virtual models can be used in smart factories to simulate and predict the real-time behaviour of products to be manufactured.
Digital twins:
- are a virtual replica of a physical asset;
- find application in various sectors, from automotive to aerospace, from infrastructure to the smart cities of the future.
What are the benefits of digital twins?
- 3D prototyping of the final product;
- cost reduction, thanks to the ability to forecast future assets;
- lower environmental impact, as digital twins make it possible to optimise the energy consumption of entire buildings, plants and infrastructures.
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JO Education is a talents aggregator with a dream: to make urban environments people-friendly and factories a safer and smarter place.
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