Implementing Shop Floor IT for Industry 4.0
Doctoral thesis, 2018

The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is a paradigm shift that is currently changing our society and the way we produce things. The first industrial revolution started at the end of the 18th century and was enabled by mechanisation and steam power. The spread of electricity enabled assembly lines and mass production during the first half of the 20th century, which was the second industrial revolution. Industry 3.0 came with the invention of the computer with an increase of automation such as programmable machines and robots. The fourth revolution is upcoming and is supposed to increase productivity and flexibility to the same extent as the previous three. The idea is to utilise recent advances in information technologies and the Internet to interconnect machines, tools, equipment, sensors, and people into decentralised intelligent systems that can sense and adapt to the environment.

The term Industry 4.0 was introduced 2011 by the German government as a national programme to boost research and development of the manufacturing industry. Many countries with, including Sweden, has since then started similar initiatives. The aim is to prevent further outsourcing of production to low-cost countries by improving competitiveness with increased automation and flexibility. However, the implementation is slow and many manufacturing companies have only started to computerise and are far from digitalised. There are many challenges in terms of technology, people, and organisation. Many manufacturing companies do not know how to start the process of digitalisation, they lack the knowledge and the organisation.

To implement a production environment according to the Industry 4.0 vision the manufacturing organisation and its view on technologies need to change. Part of this change is to design an information technology architecture that enables interconnection of machines, equipment, tools, and people on the shop floor. The aim of this thesis is to aid decision makers in the manufacturing industry to implement a shop floor IT according to the Industry 4.0 paradigm. This was achieved with the design science approach, which means that the researcher has implemented different artefacts (technologies) that have been evaluated. The work is based on six studies that connect to real problems found in the industry today. These studies are presented and discussed with respect to three research questions: important aspects, technological implementations, and effects. Results include concrete and practical examples of how to implement IT artefacts for the shop floor. Furthermore, it highlights the complexity of the problem and shows the need for a holistic and incremental approach.

Virtual Development Laboratory, Chalmers Tvärgata 4C.
Opponent: Luis Ribeiro, Linköping University, Sweden

Author

Magnus Åkerman

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Interoperability for Human-Centered Manufacturing

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics),;Vol. 10697(2018)p. 76-83

Paper in proceeding

Modularized assembly system: A digital innovation hub for the Swedish Smart Industry

Manufacturing Letters,;Vol. 15(2018)p. 143-146

Journal article

Interoperability for a Dynamic Assembly System

Procedia CIRP,;Vol. 44(2016)p. 407-411

Paper in proceeding

Introducing Customized ICT for Operators in Manufacturing

Procedia CIRP,;Vol. 41(2016)p. 490-495

Paper in proceeding

In today’s global market it is very difficult for many manufacturing companies to be competitive. Successful enterprises are the ones that are both flexible and productive because they can handle large market fluctuations and changing customer demands. Many factories fail to achieve these requirements and as a consequence production is moved to a low-cost area where the work conditions might be poorer. Experts believe that the remedy against this development is to change the manufacturing industry and make it more digitalised. To be digitalised means that the organisation utilise digital technologies in every aspect of their work. In 2011 the German government wanted to speed up the pace at which their industry adopted digital technologies and they launched a research and development program called Industry 4.0. The name refers to the fourth industrial revolution, which is a suggested paradigm shift towards a more digitalised society. Industry 4.0 became a popular way of describing this change and the term spread and is now an internationally known buzzword.

Manufacturing organisations need a good strategy to adopt digital technologies for manufacturing processes on the shop floor. This means to choose the right technologies and put them together into a shop floor IT that functions in an efficient and effective manner. This thesis aims to help with the implementation of a shop floor IT that can enable digitalisation according to the Industry 4.0 agenda. The results are based on six different studies of technologies that have been designed and developed for a real shop floor environment. The thesis discusses these results with regards to three areas:

1.      Important aspects of implementing a shop floor IT.
2.      Examples of what to implement, the technology itself.
3.      The effects of implementing these technologies.

Many people in the manufacturing industry that are starting the journey towards a more digitalised organisation can feel disoriented because of the rapidly changing landscape and the large scope of Industry 4.0. The results of this thesis highlight the reason for this complexity but also provides concrete examples of what can be done.

Subject Categories

Other Computer and Information Science

Information Science

Areas of Advance

Production

ISBN

978-91-7597-752-2

Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 4433

Publisher

Chalmers

Virtual Development Laboratory, Chalmers Tvärgata 4C.

Opponent: Luis Ribeiro, Linköping University, Sweden

More information

Latest update

5/4/2018 1