Project title: The Management (Selection and Implementation) of Automation and Advanced Manu-facturing Technology in the context of Industry 4.0Academic keywords:

Advanced Manufacturing Technology Selection Implementation

Name of project proposer: Yang Cheng (Associate Professor, PhD)

Department: Center for Industrial Production

Academic description of the project:Why the companies should participateThe competitive environment continues to become increasingly more demanding. The globalisation of manufacturing activities has resulted in opportunities as well as a considerable amount of chal-lenges for manufacturers in the developed world, including Denmark. Due to the persistent cost benefits of manufacturing in the developing world, manufacturing companies in the developed world are forced to constantly reviewing and transforming their manufacturing operations, in order to compete more effectively and increase their level of competitiveness in the global market. Under this circumstance, investment in automation and advanced manufacturing technology (AAMT) is considered as a relevant lever, which can help manufacturers in high-wage settings to obtain both tangible and intangible benefits, such as inventory savings, less floor space, improved return on equity, reduced unit cost of production and cycle time, increased flexibility, improved product qual-ity, increased productivity, quick response to customer demand, increased ease of operation, and improved employee relations. Accordingly, the management of AAMT becomes an important task for manufacturing companies, as it has a considerable impact on performance and profitability.

Nevertheless, the management of AAMT is not so straightforward. Today, it is even more complex in the context of Industry 4.0, in which a number of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies are embraced like 3D printing, Cyber-physical systems, and internet of things. In this case, on the one hand, manufacturers have to be able to select the types of AAMT that are appropriate for their particular manufacturing and business situations. On the other hand, they still need to integrate all selected AAMT to revolutionise their manufacturing systems. Moreover, the implementation of new AAMT may further lead to a series of other decisions like organisation redevelopment. In a word, manufacturers need a systematical understanding on the management of AAMT, in terms of selection and implementation. This project is accordingly pro-posed to help them develop such an understanding.

What the company will benefit from being part of the projectThis project will facilitate manufacturers to enhance their management of AAMT. It is expected that tools, processes, and methods will be developed to help manufacturers select and implement new AAMTs in their specific contexts.

More specifically, by being part of this project, manufacturers will firstly have their manufacturing systems examined. Based on the examination, they will be helped to select AAMTs that are appro-priate for their competitive environment. Afterwards, the manufacturers will be helped to implement the selected AAMTs and further integrate these new AAMTs with the existing manufacturing sys-tems. Last but not least, organisations will be redeveloped in order to maximise the usage of new AAMTs.