Digital technology is now part of our everyday lives.
We are so used to having a computer in our pocket that it now seems impossible to do without one.
When it comes to designing and managing factories, the situation is different. Digital technology is still not being used to its full potential.
But the future is now. We are living at the heart of the fourth industrial revolution, which will bring intensive use of IoT, big data, autonomous robots, simulation and virtual reality into our production and logistics systems.
You can now experience the future in i-FAB, developed by LIUC – Universita Cattaneo in collaboration with Bosch-Rexroth, Bossard, Comau, Grassi, Harting, INCAS, Omron-Adept, Rivetta Sistemi and Tema.
The i-FAB laboratory simulates the operation of a factory organised according to lean principles and using many of the tools that belong to the Industry 4.0 paradigm and the fourth industrial revolution.
i-FAB is a concrete example of a smart factory, demonstrating the benefits that digital technologies can bring to operations management.
In particular, i-FAB offers the opportunity to experiment with:
- IoT (Internet of Things): the evolution of the network in which “things” (objects) become recognisable and acquire intelligence, with the contribution of Bossard, Bosch-Rexroth and Harting.
- Big data & data analytics: data collected from different sources, such as operators, RFID transponders positioned on the product to be assembled, and work tools, aggregated into a single large data set, with the contribution of Bosch-Rexroth.
- Simulation: the digital representation of the physical factory, making it possible to design the production line and predict its future behaviour.
- Autonomous robots: robots capable of detecting the surrounding environment and human intervention. The robot can perform assembly operations and move products and components in complete safety and in collaboration with the operator, with the contribution of Comau and Omron-Adept.
- Additive manufacturing: the use of 3D printing technology to produce small-batch, highly customised components required ad hoc by customers.
