Methods and Tools for Performance Assurance of Smart Manufacturing Systems

Analysis of quantitative metrics for assessing resilience of human-centered CPPS workstations

Manufacturing companies' preparedness level against external and internal disruptions is complex to assess due to a lack of widely recognized or standardized models. Resilience as the measure to characterize preparedness against disruptions is a concept with various numerical approaches, but still lacking in the industry standard. Therefore, the main contribution of the research is the comparison of existing resilience metrics and the selection of the practically usable quantitative metric that allows manufacturers to start assessing the resilience in digitally supported human-centered workstations more easily. An additional contribution is the detection and highlighting of disruptions that potentially influence manufacturing workstations the most. Using five weighted comparison criteria, the resilience metrics were pairwise compared based on multi-criteria decision-making Analytic Hierarchy Process analysis on a linear scale. The general probabilistic resilience assessment method Penalty of Change that received the highest score considers the probability of disruptions and related cost of potential changes as inputs for resilience calculation. Additionally, manufacturing-related disruptions were extracted from the literature and categorized for a better overview. The Frequency Effect Sizes of the extracted disruptions were calculated to point out the most influencing disruptions. Overall, resilience quantification in manufacturing requires further research to improve its accuracy while maintaining practical usability.

Benchmarking smart manufacturing drivers using Grey TOPSIS and COPRAS-G approaches

Purpose

The objective of the study is to identify and analyse drivers of smart manufacturing using integrated grey-based approaches. The analysis facilitates industry practitioners in the identification of preference of drivers through which smart manufacturing can be implemented. These drivers are explored based on existing literature and expert opinion.

Design/methodology/approach

Modern manufacturing firms have been adopting smart manufacturing concepts to sustain in the global competitive landscape. Smart manufacturing incorporates integrated technologies with a flexible workforce to interlink the cyber and physical world. In order to facilitate the effective deployment of smart manufacturing, key drivers need to be analysed. This article presents a study in which 25 drivers of smart manufacturing and 8 criteria are analysed. Integrated grey Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (grey TOPSIS) is applied to rank the drivers. The derived ranking is validated using “Complex Proportional Assessment – Grey” (COPRAS-G) approach.

Findings

In total, 25 drivers with 8 criteria are being considered and an integrated grey TOPSIS approach is applied. The ranking order of drivers is obtained and further sensitivity analysis is also done.

Research limitations/implications

In the present study, 25 drivers of smart manufacturing are analysed. In the future, additional drivers could be considered.

Practical implications

The study presented has been done with inputs from industry experts, and hence the inferences have practical relevance. Industry practitioners need to focus on these drivers in order to implement smart manufacturing in industry.

Originality/value

The analysis of drivers of smart manufacturing is the original contribution of the authors.

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainability—Bibliometric Literature Review

Nowadays, sustainability and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) are trending concepts used in the literature on industrial processes. Industry 4.0 has been mainly addressed by the current literature from a technological perspective, overlooking sustainability challenges regarding this recent paradigm. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the state of the art of relations between sustainability and I4.0. The goal will be met by (1) mapping and summarizing existing research efforts, (2) identifying research agendas, (3) examining gaps and opportunities for further research. Web of Science, Scopus, and a set of specific keywords were used to select peer-reviewed papers presenting evidence on the relationship between sustainability and I4.0. To achieve this goal, it was decided to use a dynamic methodology called “systematic literature network analysis”. This methodology combines a systematic literature review approach with the analysis of bibliographic networks. Selected papers were used to build a reference framework formed by I4.0 technologies and sustainability issues. The paper contributes to the Sustainable Industry 4.0 reference framework with application procedures. It aims to show how I4.0 can support ideas of sustainability. The results showed that apart from a huge contribution to both concepts, many papers do not provide an insight into realization of initiatives to introduce Sustainable Industry 4.0.

Industry 4.0 and digital supply chain capabilities

Purpose

The Industry 4.0 phenomenon is bringing unprecedented disruptions for all traditional business models and hastening the need for a redesign and digitisation of activities. In this context, the literature concerning the digital supply chain (DSC) and its capabilities are in the early stages. To bridge this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for digital supply chain capabilities (DSCCs).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a narrative literature approach, based on the main Industry 4.0 elements, supply chain and the emerging literature concerning DSC disruptions, to build an integrative framework to shed light on DSCCs.

Findings

The study identifies seven basic capabilities that shape the DSCC framework and six main enabler technologies, derived from 13 propositions.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed framework can bring valuable insights for future research development, although it has not been tested yet.

Practical implications

Managers, practitioners and all involved in the digitalisation phenomenon can utilise the framework as a starting point for other business digitalisation projects.

Originality/value

This study contributes to advancing the DSC literature, providing a well-articulated discussion and a framework regarding the capabilities, as well as 13 propositions that can generate valuable insights for other studies.