Cyber-Physical Production System in Manufacturing Paper Example

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impacts of cyber-physical production systems on manufacturing processes. A mixed methods design was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from ten people in management positions and 200 manufacturing sector players, respectively. The results show that Cyber-Physical production systems enhance manufacturing company's productivity, efficiency, flexibility, cost benefits, and entire manufacturing ecosystem. The study concludes that the application of cyber-physical systems on the overall functioning and operations of the manufacturing firms is of great strategic importance to the manufacturing industry that is essential in creating competitive advantage.

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Keywords: cyber-physical systems, cyber-physical production systems, manufacturing

Cyber-Physical Production System in Manufacturing: Impact and Sustainability Analysis with a Reference Framework

Introduction and Background

Cyber-physical systems have become increasingly useful in the manufacturing sector. Their core function is to bring both the virtual and physical processes together. Embedded devices are integrated such that they can sense, monitor, and activate physical processes (acatech, 2011, 2012). The critical element of these innovations includes the interaction and coordination between the physical and the cyberspaces (Lee & Seshia, 2015). The systems are as a result of the developments in computer, information, and manufacturing technologies and science. They are widely regarded as capable of leading the fourth Industrial Revolution (Kagermann, Wahlster, & Helbig, 2013).

The first industrial revolution brought about the development of the mechanical loom, the 2nd revolution with the Ford assembly line, and the 3rd revolution with the innovation of the programmable logic controllers. It is envisioned that CPPS can be the invention that brings further inventions in diverse application sectors. The fourth industrial revolution represents a shift in organizing and controlling of value-adding systems.

The primary goal is to meet and satisfy individual consumer requirements at the cost of mass production. To achieve this audacious requirement, the application of the innovations encompasses the entire value chain including order management, R & D, manufacturing, delivery, recycling at the end of product life. Therefore, the players need to digitize their productions to benefit from the new opportunities. This calls for the integration of all the resources such as the human resource, products, resources and systems with cross-corporate, smart, real-time, self-organized, and autonomously optimized systems (Bauernhansl, ten Hompel, & Vogel-Hauser, 2014; VDI/VDE, 2015). Zuhlke (2010) projected that cyber-physical production systems would have a significant influence on production facilities, machinery, warehousing, and global supply networks, machinery. Cyber-physical production systems will play a critical role in the creation of smart factories in which there will be an autonomous exchange of information, actuation, and control (Zuhlke, 2010). This will lead to the fulfillment of individual consumer requirements, business and engineering process control, and optimization of the decision-making process. Also, continuous improvement in productivity and efficiency due to these innovations can be expected (Kagermann, Wahlster, & Helbig, 2013).

The new technology - cyber production systems - arising from a combination of the advancement in technology from the disciplines of computer science and information and communication technology has a lot of impacts in the manufacturing sector of various industries. The present research focuses on the specific implications of the cyber-physical 'production technology on the manufacturing processes and activities. It can be seen that aside from offering tangible products, the manufacturing companies of different products have started providing product related services in so far as the product lifecycle is concerned. It has, moreover, been noted that there is an apparent recent rise in the use of the cyber-physical system in manufacturing hence the curiosity on their applications and importance to the adopting firms. There has also been the citing by the first-hand users of the technology that it is quite smart and the connected equipment helps in paving the way for more opportunities for the businesses offering services amongst the product lifecycle as well as the pivots of the classical maintenance and repairs in firms. Investigated are also the service inventions and innovations that are driven by the cyber-physical product system and their digitization as well as their impacts on the ecosystem of the services offered in different manufacturing firms which have adopted the technology. Finally, there is an insight into the new technological capabilities of the cyber-physical product system, now existing in the manufacturing industry their future improvements.

The significance of the StudyThe research which is to be conducted regarding the applications, importance, and impacts of the cyber-physical system on the overall functioning and operations of the manufacturing firms is of great strategic importance to the manufacturing industry. First, the research will help in exploring the features of the new technology which makes it exceptionally applicable and highly called for in the existing manufacturing industries. In this way, there shall be the balance of the comparative advantage regarding the adoption of the technology to aid in offering product services as specified. The firms in the industry will be able to understand the features of the technology; also assisting in the increase of further knowledge of the technology as well as the science behind it that makes it exceptional and commented for applicability in today's manufacturing firms.

Additionally, the research - from its findings - will help the industries and manufacturing firms using them comprehend the impacts that might arise from the application of the technology in their activities. The results might include the extent to which the product service delivery can improve per unit increase in the efficiency offered by the applied cyber-physical product technology. They will then weigh between its merits and demerits and finally arrive at the decisions regarding the adoption mechanism of the technology. The research will also inform actions regarding the structured way of optimally adopting the technology into different kinds of manufacturing firms as influenced by their sizes, levels of production, staff skill requirement for the technology alongside the required service delivery efficiency - provided by the technology. Lastly, the research will increase the knowledge of the cyber-physical product on the partakers of the industry to which it is applied, the Toyota car manufacturing company.

Objectives and Research Questions

The objectives of this project are as follows:

• Objective #1: to determine how manufacturing are using cyber-physical production systems to create competitive advantage
• Objective #2: to determine the impacts of implementing of cyber-physical production on the manufacturing companies

To achieve these objectives, the study is guided by the following questions:

• Research Question #1: How is the cyber-physical production systems used in manufacturing to create competitive advantage?
• Research Question #2: What are the effects of cyber-physical production systems in manufacturing?

Literature Review

The interplay between Computer Science, Information Communication and Technology, and production automationParallels can be observed between the development of computers, the software, and manufacturing science and technology (Jeschke, Brecher, Meisen, Ozdemir, & Eschert, 2017; Lee, 2008; Monostori et al., 2016). The development of computers has had the same effect as double-cross hybridization to agriculture (Duvick, 2001) to manufacturing. Computers facilitated the development of numerical control systems for robots and machine tools mainly to the enhanced function of microprocessors (Monostori, 2014; Monostori et al., 2016). Further developments on computer systems led to the computer-aided design (CAD) systems (Li, Lu, Fuh, & Wong, 2005; Monostori, 2014; Monostori et al., 2016). The improvement of computer networks contributed immensely to the development of manufacturing systems (Camarinha-Matos, Afsarmanesh, Galeano, & Molina, 2009). On its part, database development was essential for storage of computer-integrated manufacturing systems (Monostori et al., 2016). Artificial intelligence and machine learning practices have enhanced intelligent manufacturing systems significantly (Jeschke et al., 2017). Artificial intelligence also contributed to the development of computer vision algorithms applied in robotics for interaction with objects in the environment (Monostori, 2014). Construction of the Internet revolutionized communication between people, between systems, supply chains, extended enterprises, and production networks (Wiendahl & Lutz, 2002). Holonic manufacturing systems applied multi-agent systems to increase production efficiency (Randhawa & Sethi, 2017). The advancement of manufacturing, tracing, and tracking systems has been made possible with recent innovation in wireless technologies, sensor technology and Internet of Things (Monostori, 2009; Schuh, Gottschalk, & Hohne, 2008).

The manufacturing industry has embraced smart automation and product-service solutions that have been made available by embedded systems. Interoperability has been increased in the manufacturing sector due to the development of semantic web solutions just as cloud services have risen by the introduction of cloud computing. Lastly, the growth of grid computing induced increased activities in grid manufacturing...