Digital technology is now part of our lives.
We are so used to having a computer to hand that it now seems impossible to do without it.
In factory design and management, the situation is different. Digital technology is not yet being used to its full potential.
But the future is here. We are living in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, which will lead to intensive use of IoT, big data, autonomous robots, simulation and virtual reality in our production and logistics systems.
You can experience the future now in the i-FAB, developed by LIUC – Cattaneo University, in collaboration with Bosch-Rexoroth, 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 logic, using many of the tools of Industry 4.0, of the fourth industrial revolution.
The i-FAB is a concrete example of a smart factory, demonstrating the benefits that digital technologies can bring to operational management.
In particular, the i-FAB offers the possibility to experiment with:
- IoT (internet of things): the evolution of the network where “things” (objects) become connected and acquire intelligence (contributed by Bossard, Bosch-Rexroth and Harting).
- Big data & data analytics: collection of data from various sources (e.g., operators, RFId transponders placed on the product to be assembled, work tools) aggregated into one big data-set (with the contribution of Bosch-Rexoroth).
- Simulation: digital representation of the physical factory through which the production line can be designed and its behaviour predicted in the future.
- Autonomous robots: robots that can detect their surroundings and human intervention. The robot can perform assembly and handling operations on products and components in total safety and in collaboration with the operator (with the contribution of Comau and Omron-Adept).
- Additive manufacturing: use of 3D printing technology for the production of small series and highly customised components requested ad-hoc by customers.
i-FAB has been created with the contribution of Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Comunitaria del Varesotto onlus
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