Information and communication integration in smart factory design

TL;DR

This paper reviews smart factory design in the context of Industry 4.0, focusing on opportunities, risks, and success factors.

Contribution

It provides a systematic overview of recent empirical research on smart factory design from 2018 to 2022.

Findings

Smart factory design can lead to cost advantages and increased competitiveness.

Recent studies highlight key success factors and risks in implementing smart factories.

The paper identifies open research areas for academic exploration.

Abstract

Strategic smart factory design is essential to utilize Industry 4.0 technologies in production environments effectively. Although a series of earlier reviews in the context of smart manufacturing have been published, so far none addresses smart factory design, i. e. the planning and operation of smart factories. This review provides an overview of recent research in the field by systematizing opportunities, risks and success factors of smart factory design as available from recent empirical studies (2018-2022). Businesses are informed how smart factory design should be approached and implemented to realize cost advantages and increase competitiveness. Academic research benefits of a classification of relevant issues and open research fields are outlined.

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