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Smart manufacturing systems for industry 4.0: A conceptual framework

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 CIE47 Proceedings, 11-13 October 2017, Lisbon / Portugal

SMART MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS FOR INDUSTRY 4.0: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Ray Y. Zhong, Xun Xu* and Shohin Aheleroff

Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
xun.xu@auckland.ac.nz

ABSTRACT
Smart manufacturing systems are facing new era in the Industry 4.0 generation which features in using
cutting-edge technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-physical Systems (CPS), Cloud
computing and Big Data Analytics. This paper introduces a conceptual framework which includes
design, machining, monitoring, control, and scheduling (decision-making) so that typical
manufacturing systems could be streamlined for Industry 4.0 implementations. Several demonstrative
scenarios are presented so that each layer is illustrated by an associated demonstrations which could
be used for the guidance for specific implementation of corresponding solutions when companies are
contemplating the Industry 4.0 based practices.
Keywords: Industry 4.0, Smart Manufacturing Systems, Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical Systems,
Big Data Analytics, Framework

1. INTRODUCTION

Today, technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics, as well
as artificial intelligence are serving as key enablers for the manufacturing industry to address current
challenges such as increasingly customised requirements, higher quality, and shorter time-to-market
[1] by converting manufacturing systems onto a smart level. In particular, the connection of physical
manufacturing equipment and devices over the Internet together with Big Data Analytics in the digital
world (e.g. the cloud) brings about a revolutionary production pattern – Cyber-Physical Production
Systems (CPPS), which is a materialization of the general concept of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in
the manufacturing environment.
In order to understand this concept and guide practitioners, this paper proposes a concept
framework for Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing systems, covering a wide range of topics such as
smart design, smart machining, smart monitoring, smart control, smart scheduling, and smart
inspection. Finally, current challenges and future research directions are also discussed. The rest of
this paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents a framework for Industry 4.0 smart
manufacturing systems. In Section 3, a number of demonstrative scenarios is presented. Section 4
discusses the current challenges and future perspectives. Section 5 concludes this paper.

*
Corresponding Author

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2. A CONCEPT FREMEWORK FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 BASED SMART MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

Figure 1 presents a framework for Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing systems categorized into smart
design, smart machining, smart monitoring, smart control, smart scheduling. A smart manufacturing
system could be defined as a broad manufacturing paradigm which integrates design, production,
control and decision-making by making full use of cutting-edge technologies to enable intelligent
production in the Industry 4.0 era [1].
 Smart design. Design software such as CAD is able to interact with physical smart prototype systems
in real time enabled by 3D printing that is integrated with CPS and AR [2]. Thus, the engineering
changes and physical realizations could be twined to achieve a smart design paradigm.
 Smart machining. In Industry 4.0, smart machining can be achieved with the help of smart robots
and various other types of smart objects.
 Smart monitoring. The widespread deployment of various types of sensors makes it possible to
achieve smart monitoring.
 Smart control. End-users are able to switch off a machine or robot via their smart phones [3]. The
decisions could then be timely reflected in frontline manufacturing sites such as robot-based
assembly lines or smart machines [4].
 Smart scheduling. Smart scheduling layer mainly includes advanced models and algorithms to draw
on data captured from sensors. With the help of data input mechanisms, the output resolutions
are fed back to parties involved through different ways [5].

Figure 2. Conceptual framework of the

Figure 1. A concept framework for Industry proposed product development process
4.0 smart manufacturing system

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3. DEMONSTRATIVE SCENARIOS

3.1. Smart Design: User Experience-based Personalized Smart Wearable Device

The conceptual framework of the proposed product development process is shown in Figure 2. It
consists of three models: physical model, cyber model and UX model, all of which interacts with each
other coherently in the co-creation process. Physical model stands for the physical products (e.g.
wrist band) and services (e.g. app subscription) in a real world.
The project adopts the state-of-the-art design methodologies (e.g. adaptable design [6],
innovative design thinking [7], and UX-based design [8] to guide the user interactive conceptual design
process. Also, a product configuration system with graphical user interface is developed to enable
the co-creation process. In order to prototype the personalized parts, 3D scanners are utilized to
capture the specific features of the user and the geometric parameters are optimized in the CAD
software for later 3D printing. Smart sensor platform (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is implemented in the
prototyping product to test its smart functions (e.g. heartrate, breathe frequency) with Apps in the
smart mobile devices. The sensor data is then mashed-up into the ThingWorx IoT platform (ThingWorx)
for further data analytics and tracking the status of the product (e.g. the location information and
time of usage). Meanwhile, the UX is captured both during the product development stage and
prototype product testing stage. For the prior one, both marketing strategies (e.g. questionnaire and
focus group) and digital equipment (e.g. eye tracker and video camera) are used to reflect users’
perceptions towards the co-design process. For the latter one, their experiences are recorded by the
digital equipment (e.g. augmented reality headset and eye tracker) and marketing strategies.

3.2. Smart Machining: CPS-based Smart Machine Tools

Smart machine tools as shown in Figure 3 can be treated as combinations of different CPS. RFID
tags are attached to critical components such as spindles, bearings and cutting tools so that the
physical objects can be uniquely identified. Various sensors are deployed in the machine tools to
collect real-time machining data of each critical component as well as the machining processes.

Figure 3. CPS-enabled Smart Machine Tools

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Having all the data gathered, a digital twin for each critical component needs to be modelled to
comprehensively represent its physical attributes and real-time status at the same time. To address
these issues, standardized data communication protocols and information modelling methods are
used. MTConnect has the ability to translate the data collected from different devices into the XML
data format, which can be used by most software applications. ISO 10303, also known as STEP, is an
ISO standard capable of describing product data throughout the life cycle of a product independent
of any particular system. Based on these standards, the communication service creates digital twins
for the critical components and provides the well-formatted real-time data to various applications
through the Internet. Combining AR technology with real-time manufacturing data collected during
machining processes will enable effective interactions between users and smart machine tools.

3.3. Smart Control: Cloud-based numerical control

A cloud-based smart control system is illustrated in Figure 4 which takes CNC control for example to
illustrate the key concepts.

Figure 4. Cloud-based Smart Control System

Machining jobs are scheduled and distributed among connected machine tools. During the tool-path
generation process, the offline optimization re-sequencing the working steps, and the cutting
parameter can be performed. The information from a machine tool is transmitted to the cloud,
including current axis positions, setup and cutter statues, which will be used when the tool-paths are
generated. The progress of the machining tasks and the status of machine tools will be transmitted
to the cloud by the local control system.

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Figure 5. Machine scheduling in Industry 4.0

3.4. Smart Scheduling: Machine Scheduling in Smart Factories

Machine scheduling is a classical problem that has been studied for decades [9]. However, in
the context of Industry 4.0, there are a number of new characteristics and requirements as shown in
Figure.5. In Industry 4.0, machines are endowed with a certain degree of intelligence and can
communicate with each other by being deployed various sensors and wireless communication devices
(e.g. RFID). In this case, machines are, to a large extent, transparent in the sense that data of each
parts of a machine can be conveniently collected in real time.
In the Industry 4.0 manufacturing environment, each machine is a CPS entity, which can
communicate with each other in both the physical and virtual worlds. The essence of machine
scheduling in Industry 4.0 is scheduling of collaborative CPS [10-12]. The complexity of machine
scheduling in Industry 4.0 comes from the typical characteristics of CPS such as autonomous (e.g.
self-aware, self-predict, self-compare), decentralized, and real-time [13-16]. As a result, machine
scheduling in Industry 4.0 necessitates efficient, dynamic, and decentralized scheduling methods [12].
By enhancing a machine into a CPS with comprehensive perception, machine scheduling in Industry
4.0 will be well supported.

3.5. Smart Inspection: Automated Quality Inspection based on Smart 3D-scanning

Material inspection and quality control in a smart production environment is one of the big
challenges towards Industry 4.0. An Industry 4.0 smart factory is established by merging the physical

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world of shop floor equipment with virtual world of ICT. Figure 6 shows the principle work of 3D
scanning for automated quality inspection. This process begins with scanning an object and creating
3D files of points, called point clouds, as raw input. By means of filtering process, unreliable range
measurements (outlier) are removed. Then point clouds are analysed and compared with initial design
[16-18]. Finally, the results are visualized with different colours to show the degree of quality of each
segment of the part. Data gathered from each process is stored. By using Big Data Analytic tools,
control chart, mathematical statistics knowledge and intelligent algorithm, the data can be processed
to provide valuable information for manufacturers and customers. This system is also connected to
the Internet to provide real-time quality data of the processing parts or finished workpiece online for
customer access.

Figure 6. Automated Quality Inspection based on 3D-scanning

4. CONCLUSION

This paper first presents a conceptual framework of Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing systems, and
then showcases some of the key technologies and some demonstrative scenarios. Significant
contributions of this paper are as follows. Firstly, a systematic framework for Industry 4.0 smart
manufacturing systems is proposed, covering a number of relevant topics such as design, machining,
monitoring, control, and scheduling. This framework provides an important reference for academia
and practitioners to rethink the essence of Industry 4.0 from different perspectives. Secondly,
combining some research carried out by the authors, this paper reviews the key perspectives under
the framework. Insights for the future research directions of data collection, virtualization, and
decision-making are provided. Several aspects are highlighted for the Industry 4.0 smart
manufacturing systems. Hopefully, this paper can provide manufacturing industry with some insights
into implementing Industry 4.0 in the near future.
Industry companies can make full use of the technologies and proposed ideas to upgrade and
transform from traditional manufacturing mode into a more advanced fashion. For example,
traditional machine tools could be equipped with smart sensors to collect real-time working status

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data which could be used for advanced decision-making by using Big Data Analytics, cloud
manufacturing, and CPS [19-22]. More specifically, some successful cases reported from literature
[23, 24] could be followed so that typical small and medium-sized enterprises could be beneficial
from the great wave of Industry 4.0 enabled smart manufacturing systems.

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