Smart factories

The current global economic meltdown is ramping up the pressure on an already beleaguered manufacturing industry, particularly in terms of the flexibility and efficiency of production processes. This requires production and administrative processes to be meshed with each other via IT systems in order to optimise the use and capacity of machines and lines, while also responding rapidly to wrong developments in production and thus reducing adverse effects on the business. The future scenario of the 'smart factory' represents the zenith of this development. The factory can be modified and expanded at will, combines all components from different manufacturers and enables them to take on context-related tasks autonomously. Integrated user interfaces will still be required at most factories for basic functionalities. The complex control operations will run wirelessly and ad hoc via mobile terminals such as smartphones.