Investigating the Effects of Smart Production Systems on Sustainability Elements

The next generation of manufacturing systems will be self-organising. Networking of cyber-physical equipment and machinery are on the rise. In the field of sustainable manufacturing, an increasing level of computerisation is used to face the growing production requirements. Smart production systems will foster opportunities from its artificial intelligence to create value within the business and the community it operates. Smart production systems will integrate the virtual and physical worlds on these Internet of Things (IoT) platforms to ensure flexibility and resource efficiency. This research study investigated the dynamics of the next industrial revolution (Industrie 4.0) and used case studies on the market, suppliers and customers as benchmark to identify current trends. The technical, economic, social and environmental elements of possible smart innovations were evaluated in terms of resource efficiency. Prerequisites for tooling companies to use smart production systems were discovered. Future work was also discussed.