Report Conclusion

For over a decade, manufacturing enterprises have been heavily investing in the digital transformation of their production operations. These investments are driven by three megatrends of our era, including unprecedented technology acceleration, climate change, and the need to operate in a globalized environment. Earlier sections have attempted to picture the Factory of the future and the ways it holds the promise to improve production quality, time and cost. The Factory of the Future will employ cutting-edge digital technologies, such as cloud/edge computing, Big Data,  Artificial Intelligence, additive manufacturing, the Industrial Internet of Things, as well as 5G/6G networks.  These technologies will lead to increased automation and significant improvements in a wide range of production functions, such as production scheduling, asset maintenance, and quality control, which is fully in line with the vision of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).

Nevertheless, any improvements in the automation and cost-efficiency of production functions must be also trustworthy and human-centric. Recent experiences from Industry 4.0 pilots reveal that manufacturing enterprises won’t be willing to adopt AI-based cyber-physical production systems unless they understand and trust their operation. In this direction, there is a surge of interest in technologies (e.g., explainable AI (XAI), human-robot collaboration, cybersecurity) and practices that boost the trustworthiness of digital manufacturing functionalities. Except for being human-centered, digital manufacturing operations must also strive to improve environmental performance and sustainability in an effort to address and mitigate climate change challenges. The shift of Industry 4.0 operations towards a human-centric and more sustainable direction is sometimes characterized as Industry 5.0 manufacturing, which is seen as the next evolutionary step to digital manufacturing.

The Factory of the Future must therefore align with the requirements and characteristics of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 applications. This asks for the deployment of a host of digital technologies, as well as their integration in value-added applications inside the factory and across the manufacturing value chain. The deployment of Industry 4.0/5.0 technologies requires significant changes in the physical elements of the factories, which will include cyber-physical production systems such as industrial robots, cyber-physical systems, flexible production lines, and a variety of IoT devices. It also requires a radically new workplace design, which shall be able to accommodate human-centred manufacturing systems.  Furthermore, the development and deployment of Future Factories requires a radical rethinking and reengineering of production processes towards a data-driven and more automated dimension. The latter rethinking is expected to reduce human involvement in low-level laborious processes while intensifying the human role as coordinator and supervisor of the digital operations of automated manufacturing systems. This will lead to considerable changes in positions and roles inside the manufacturing enterprises.

To remain competitive and to support novel customized production Manufacturing enterprises have no other option than to ride the wave of Industry 4.0/Industry 5.0 production operations by transforming their factories and their manufacturing operations. In this direction, they must invest in technology and in a wide range of complementary assets such as novel production models, new manufacturing processes, as well as employees’ training. The design and deployment of novel production processes is a key prerequisite for using cutting-edge technologies to reduce error-prone processes and achieve cost-effective automation. At the same time, the upskilling and reskilling of manufacturing workers is indispensable for engaging the workforce in new roles. Most importantly, manufacturers must allocate effort to realise a cultural shift from conventional production operations and models (e.g., inflexible production lines, made-to-stock production models) to the next generation of data-driven, AI-enabled models (e.g., flexible production lines, mass customization). 

The transition to the factories of the future is a marathon rather than a sprint race. Therefore, manufacturing enterprises must develop an Industry 4.0/Industry 5.0 strategy and develop well-structured pathways for the transformation of their operations with clear and tangible milestones. In most cases, manufacturers will have to ensure a smooth transition from their existing factories and production operations to the factory of the future. The pathway for this transformation must include a gradual, staged deployment of digital technologies, including digital enablement of conventional production systems that rely on Operational Technology (OT). As already outlined, technology upgrades and use case deployment must be accompanied by investments in employee upskilling, novel processes, and regulatory compliance. Moreover, these investments must have strong support from the senior management of the manufacturing enterprise, as the transition to the factory of the future will entail significant changes in business processes and employees’ roles and responsibilities. To boost the commitment of the senior management, it is essential to continually quantify and prove the benefits of the transition to the factory of the future. In this direction, the presented guidelines for calculating ROI and S-ROI can be leveraged.

While most of the future factories will be a result of brownfield deployments, greenfield deployments are also possible. Greenfield deployments require less effort for reengineering and transforming legacy systems and operations. This provides more versatility for building factories that can fully leverage the benefits of cutting-edge digital technologies. 

Both greenfield and brownfield deployments can greatly benefit from testing and experimentation facilities, including pilot production lines. This is because changes in physical processes incur significant failure risks while providing very limited room for “trial and error” processes. Pilot production lines and testbeds can therefore contribute to reducing deployment risks.

The vision of the future factory is fantastic, yet very challenging. Therefore, manufacturers must carefully plan their transformation and transition journey. We hope that the present guide can provide valuable insights for starting this journey on the right foot.