Industry 4.0: Integrating Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Contemporary Information Technology

Dear Colleagues,

For any developed nation’s economy, manufacturing is one of the major contributors. Hence, it is important to focus on state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies. In the present era, the advent of Industry 4.0 is redefining how organizations manufacture, enhance, and distribute their goods. The internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, analytics, AI, and machine learning are among the cutting-edge technologies that manufacturers are incorporating into their manufacturing processes. The last decade in manufacturing belongs to automation, but Industry 4.0 is a step ahead of that. Industry 4.0 includes IoT, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning, real-time data processing, smart manufacturing, machine-to-machine communication, digitization, additive manufacturing, enterprise resource planning, and cyber-physical systems. Industry 4.0 spans across the complete product lifecycle, including supply chain, inventory management, customer feedback, quality, recycling, etc. Smart factories have cutting-edge sensors, embedded software, and robotics that gather data, analyze it, and help with better decision-making. The amalgamation of the latest information technology tools such as IoT, big data with the manufacturing results into better automation, predictive maintenance, self-optimization of processes, and, most importantly, a new level of efficiency and customer responsiveness is now possible.

The articles in this Special Issue on “Industry 4.0: Integrating Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Contemporary Information Technology” will present cutting-edge developments in research that either make use of the concept of Industry 4.0 and one of its main pillars, smart manufacturing, or demonstrate the advancements in these fields with improved frameworks and applications of modern technologies in manufacturing.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Development of the framework for smart factory;
• Advancements in system integration and cyber-physical systems;
• Digital twins and its applications in manufacturing;
• Socio-economic aspects of Industry 4.0;
• Additive manufacturing in Industry 4.0;
• Industry 4.0 impacts in supply chain and allied fields.

Dr. Hisham Alkhalefah
Dr. Ateekh Ur Rehman
Guest Editors

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