Soldatos J., Lazaro O., Cavadini F. (Eds.). The Digital Shopfloor: Industrial Automation in the Industry 4.0 Era: Performance Analysis and Applications

River Publishers, 2019. — 496 p. — (River Publishers Series in Automation, Control and Robotics). — ISBN: 978-87-7022-041-5.In today's competitive global environment, manufacturers are offered unprecedented opportunities to build hyper-efficient and highly flexible plants, towards meeting variable market demand, while at the same time supporting new production models such as make-to-order (MTO), configure-to-order (CTO) and engineer-to-order (ETO). During the last couple of years, the digital transformation of industrial processes has been propelled by the emergence and rise of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).The latter is based on the extensive deployment of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies in the manufacturing shopfloor, as well as on the seamless and timely exchange of digital information across supply chain participants. The benefits of Industry 4.0 have been already proven in the scope of pilot and production deployments in several different use cases including flexibility in automation, predictive maintenance, zero-defect manufacturing, and more.Despite early implementations and proofs-of-concept, CPPS/IoT deployments are still in their infancy for several reasons, including:
Manufacturers' poor awareness about digital manufacturing solutions and their business value potential, as well as the lack of relevant internal CPPS/IIoT knowledge.The high costs that are associated with the deployment, maintenance, and operation of CPPS systems in the manufacturing shopfloors, are particularly challenging in the case of SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) manufacturers that lack the equity capital needed to invest in Industry 4.0.The time needed to implement CPPS/IIoT and the lack of a smooth and proven migration path from existing OT solutions.The uncertainty over the business benefits and impacts of IIoT and CPPS technologies, including the lack of proven methods for the techno-economic evaluation of Industry 4.0 systems.Manufacturers' increased reliance on external integrators, consultants, and vendors.
The absence of a well-developed value chain is needed to sustain the acceptance of these new technologies for digital automation.The book is structured in three parts as follows:The first part of the book is devoted to digital automation platforms. Following an introduction to Industry 4.0 in general and digital automation platforms in particular, this part presents the digital automation platforms of the FAR-EDGE, AUTOWARE, and DAEDALUS projects.The second part of the book focuses on the presentation of digital simulation and digital twins' functionalities. These include information about the models that underpin digital twins, as well as the simulators that enable experimentation with these processes over these digital models.The third part of the book provides information about complementary assets and supporting services that boost the adoption of digital automation functionalities in the Industry 4.0 era. Training services, migration services, and ecosystem building services are discussed based on the results of the three projects of the Digital Shopfloor Alliance.The target audience of the book includes:Researchers in the areas of Digital Manufacturing and more specifically in the areas of digital automation and simulation, who wish to be updated about the latest Industry 4.0 developments in these areas.Manufacturers, with an interest in the next generation of digital automation solutions based on Cyber-Physical systems.