The factories of the futureSmart Factories

Digital manufacturing technologies are expected to profoundly impact the growth and efficiencies of various industriesand and serve as the foundation to implement sweeping changes, resulting in smart factories. Being a disruptive technology, digital manufacturing provides advanced computing abilities that will alter the traditional manufacturing processes. The ability to virtualize and simulate data will allow manufacturers to tackle engineering and production challenges, enabling better planning in production schedules and equipping them with critical information on machinery and assets.

Predictive maintenance is a maintenance strategy that utilizes predictive analytical algorithms and real-time data to proactively identify areas of potential concern and provide suitable solutions. One of the key reasons for interest in predictive maintenance in a smart factory will be the cost savings it enables, which can be significant over a period of time. However, factories using this strategy will have to deal with issues such as data protection and significant capital expenditure.

Most manufacturers could use either a private or public cloud where voluminous data that is generated, and subsequently sent and/or retrieved from the cloud. However, this process is time consuming, expensive and at times can be highly unviable for many companies. To address these challenges, edge or fog computing is emerging as a promising technology that bridges the gap between the cloud and connected equipment in the factory. However, both cloud (where data is at a centralized location) and edge computing (where data is located at the edge of a connected device) are required in a smart factory to leverage the data effectively as they are complementing technologies. In a typical smart factory, data that is generated in the manufacturing ecosystem will be distributed between the edge and the cloud as required to save time and facilitate decision making. Market positioning of the manufacturers will depend on how effectively they combine and adopt both cloud and edge computing technologies in the smart factory setup.

As every application within a smart factory will have different requirements, a private 5G network will probably be required. This type of network allows manufacturing enterprises to set up secure and dedicated networks within limited areas that can be tailored to the needs of each specific smart factory application.