Industry 4.0 for SMEs: Challenges, Opportunities and Requirements PDF by Dominik T. Matt, Vladimír Modrák and Helmut Zsifkovits

Contents

Preface
The term Industry 4.0 describes the ongoing revolution of manufacturing industry around the world. Large companies in particular have rapidly embraced the challenges of Industry 4.0 and are currently working intensively on the introduction of the corresponding enabling technologies. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the hurdle of possessing neither human nor financial resources to systematically investigate the potential and risks for introducing Industry 4.0. However, in most of the countries SMEs form the backbone of the economy, they account for the largest share of the gross domestic product and are also important employers. In this respect, the challenges, opportunities, and requirements of Industry 4.0 have to be examined specifically for SMEs, thus paving the way for the digital transformation of traditional SMEs into smart factories.

The central question in this book is therefore: Which opportunities arise from Industry 4.0, which challenges do SMEs face when introducing Industry 4.0, and which requirements are necessary for a successful and sustainable digital transformation of their company? With this book the research consortium of the H2020 MSCA RISE project “SME 4.0—Industry 4.0 for SMEs” (grant agreement No. 734713) encourages other researchers to conduct research in the field of Industry 4.0 specifically for SMEs and thus expanding the community in SME research. Practical methods, instruments, and best practice case studies are needed to support practitioners from SMEs in the introduction of Industry 4.0.

This book summarizes the research results of the first phase of the project “SME 4.0—Industry 4.0 for SMEs: Smart Manufacturing and Logistics for SMEs in an X-to-order and Mass Customization Environment,” which was conducted from 2017 to 2018. The project, started in January 2017 with a duration of four years and is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 734713. In this initial book, that is being published within the framework of the above-mentioned research project, the editors and contributors focus their research results on possible challenges, opportunities, and requirements that arise from the introduction of Industry 4.0. A further book publication is planned for the final phase with the focus on research of methods for the introduction of Industry 4.0 to SMEs in addition to practical applications in SMEs.

A great opportunity for the future lies in the transfer of Industry 4.0 expertise and technologies in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This research project aims to close and overcome the gap in this transfer through the establishment of an international and interdisciplinary research network for this topic. This network has the objectives of identifying the requirements, the challenges, and the opportunities for a smart and intelligent SME factory, creating adapted concepts, instruments, and technical solutions for production and logistics systems in SMEs and developing suitable organisation and management models. The practical applicability of the results is guaranteed through a close collaboration of the network with small- and medium- sized enterprises from Europe, USA, Thailand, and India.

The book is structured into five parts with a total of 13 chapters:

Part I—Introduction to Industry 4.0 for SMEs
In the first part readers are introduced to the topic by reviewing the current state of the art of the transfer of Industry 4.0 in SMEs and the role of SMEs in the digital transformation.

Part II—Industry 4.0 Concepts for Smart Manufacturing in SMEs
In the second part the focus lies on manufacturing in SMEs. The first chapter in this part describes the main requirements, constraints, and guidelines for the design of smart and highly adaptable manufacturing systems. The second chapter reports how SMEs can implement an industrial internet of things and cyber-physical systems for achieving distributed and service-oriented control of their manufacturing system. The third chapter provides insights about potentials and challenges of automation through safe and ergonomic human–robot collaboration.

Part III—Industry 4.0 Concepts for Smart Logistics in SMEs
The third part concentrates on the introduction of Industry 4.0 in SME logistics. In the first chapter, requirements for the design of smart logistics in SMEs are summarized, while the second chapter shows how SMEs can implement identification and traceability of objects to enable automation. The third chapter gives an overview of the state of the art of the application and the potential of automation in logistics.

Part IV—Industry 4.0 Managerial, Organizational and Implementation Issues
The fourth part deals with organization and management models for smart SMEs. In the first chapter in this part, the contributors develop and test organizational models for smart SMEs in terms of mass customization.

In the second chapter, a focus group study shows the main barriers that SMEs are facing when implementing Industry 4.0. As SMEs need to be guided and supported in the process of implementation of Industry 4.0, the third chapter provides an SME 4.0 implementation tool kit.

Part V—Case Studies and Methodical Tools for Implementing Industry 4.0 in SMEs
In this part, topics previously covered theoretically are described by means of practical case studies. The case studies describe both the underlying theoretical concepts as well as the practical implementation and validation in the laboratory environment. In the first chapter, the contributors report about a case study of automatic product identification and inspection by using tools of Industry 4.0. In the second chapter, readers can expect a laboratory case study for intuitive collaboration between man and machine in SME assembly.

In the third chapter we give an overview on Axiomatic Design as a design methodology pertinent to the introduction of Industry 4.0 to SMEs as this method can be found within some chapters of this book. This chapter explains the basic rules of Axiomatic Design: the different domains and levels used in Axiomatic Design, the independence axiom and the information axiom. Further, this chapter introduces how Axiomatic Design can be used for the design of complex systems including both products and manufacturing systems.

We would like to thank the authors for their refreshing ideas and interesting contributions to this topic.