Maintenance 4.0 Technologies for Sustainable Manufacturing: Second Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Manufacturing companies and equipment manufacturers face two major trends affecting their business: digitalization and sustainability. The literature on production refers to digitalization as one of the pillars of the next (fourth) Industrial Revolution. In the Industry 4.0 era, manufacturing systems are able to monitor physical processes and make smart decisions through real-time communication and cooperation with humans, machines, sensors, etc. The second major trend affecting manufacturers is sustainability. In the sustainable development environment, there has been an increased pressure on manufacturing companies to think beyond traditional economic measures and evaluate environmental and social effects of the business.

In this context, various initiatives and approaches are set up to help companies adopt the principles of the fourth Industrial Revolution with respect to sustainability. Within these actions, the use of contemporary maintenance approaches such as Maintenance 4.0 is highlighted as one of the prevailing sustainable manufacturing topics. Minimized downtime, prolonged machine life, increased production efficiencies, resource utilization, and reduced costs are merely a few promising prospects of Maintenance 4.0 technologies.

The objective of this Special Issue is to present the latest advances and developments of new methods, techniques, systems, and tools dedicated to the application of Maintenance 4.0 technologies for economic, environmental, and social challenges of sustainable manufacturing.

Topics and themes can include but are not limited to:

• Drivers and barriers for the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 technologies in manufacturing companies;
• Intelligent decision support for sustainable maintenance practices;
• Human factors, industrial ergonomics, and safety in smart maintenance;
• Modeling and simulation of smart maintenance systems;
• Big Data analytics implementation for sustainable maintenance;
• Digital-twin-driven intelligent maintenance for sustainability;
• Internet of Things solutions in maintenance for sustainability;
• Data-driven maintenance and product lifecycle management systems;
• Causes and effects of implementing Maintenance 4.0 technologies for sustainable manufacturing.

Dr. Jasiulewicz-Kaczmarek Małgorzata
Guest Editor

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