NPBP: Challenges and benefits related to the digital development of the factory

What is a digital factory?

Modern solutions – based on a combination of robotics, automation, and other state-of-the-art technologies – are leading to a redesign of new business models in industry, as well as radical changes in patterns and workflow. Digital factories are an integral part of this innovative process. These are production plants in which machines, connected via the Internet of Things, learn from large data sets, employing augmented reality to manage production via 3D printout. Clarification of several technical terms will clearly explain the whole process. Big data processing refers to extremely large data sets being accessed, analysed computationally, interpreted and shared, which in turn allows us to start a fundamental transformation: products become services. Data is processed in the cloud, which creates the possibility of data relocation, and its access regardless of location, as well as a number of services previously unavailable from permanent workstations. Communication is no longer limited to one production plant, but can be shared between different factories in different parts of the globe.

Vertical and horizontal integration

So-called Big Data management and its dissemination brings a growing communication potential. It allows companies to start both vertical integration, i.e. between different phases of the same production chain, as well as horizontal integration, i.e. between different production chains: the value chain is redefined by cooperating production networks. In robotics, automation is still crucial, ensuring that the operator will work with the machine in perfect symbiosis. It is a concept of a human in a loop, where robots programmed by man are constantly connected to the system.