Industry 4.0: The Industrial Internet of Things

© Alasdair Gilchrist 2016

Alasdair Gilchrist, Industry 4.0, 10.1007/978-1-4842-2047-4_14

14. Smart Factories

Alasdair Gilchrist¹ 

(1)Bangken, Nonthaburi, Thailand

The heart of Industry 4.0 in conceptual terms is the Smart Factory (Figure 14-1) and everything revolves around this central entity that makes up the business model. If we look at how Industry 4.0 will work in theory, we can see that everything from the supply chain, business models, and processes are there to provide the Smart Factory. Similarly, all the external interfaces from supply chain partners, smart grids, and even social media conceptually have the smart factory at the hub—it is the sun around which other processes orbit.

Figure 14-1. Smart Factory

So what is a Smart Factory and ...