What is smart manufacturing?
Francesco Ramella
Abstract
In this chapter, we deal with smart manufacturing, which concerns the advent of highly interconnected and automated production processes. In the beginning, we illustrate what is meant with the terms ‘industry 4.0’ and ‘fourth industrial revolution’ (section ‘A new industrial revolution’). Both of them refer to the advent of a new technological and productive paradigm characterized by intelligent systems and large-scale connectivity. The new digital technologies, in fact, enhance computing and connectivity capabilities in production processes, making possible new forms of communication and interaction between people and machines, machines and machines, digital information and material things. Thereafter, we discuss the impact of these disruptive innovations on the world of work. We analyse both the quantitative implications, related to the possible reduction of jobs, and the qualitative terms, related to the new skills and knowledge which are required in this new scenario (section ‘A changing world of work’).