Industry 4.0

The next big thing in manufacturing is likely to be a move away from traditional assembly lines to customized products and manufacturing processes that respond to consumer demand in real-time. At least that’s what Korean researchers are banking on with the development of a system that will merge manufacturing industries with information and communication technology (ICT) to create a cyber-physical system (CPS) capable of producing individualized products through automated and intelligent control.

A joint research project with Europe’s largest application-oriented research facility is aimed at developing a standardization framework and reference model to automate every aspect of manufacturing – including products, processes and production – enabling a new era of custom-made products to emerge. The system could have applications in virtually any industry from national defense to next-generation cars to customized cosmetics. It will take about three years to complete the base technology, after which they plan to develop modeling and simulation platforms that will enable products and factories to be created virtually.