Smart Interoperable Logistics and Additive Manufacturing - Modern Technologies for Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0

As a result of new challenges such as flexible, adaptable manufacturing systems and customized products, the complexity of new technologies for digital transformation and Industry 4.0 [36] is increasing. In this context, logistics and additive manufacturing are seen as two out of nine future technologies for modern production industries. For future developments it is crucial to find effective and flexible approaches for the connection of heterogeneous systems and, above all, data structures. A promising approach is concerned with the interoperable connection of these complex structures. The first approach to be described in the paper deals with the smart interoperable connection of systems in the domain of logistics. A concept of a system approach is presented, in which smart logistics objects communicate with each other via defined levels and provide services with certain characteristics for smart value-added processes or applications for the modern factory and production environment. The second approach deals with effects and potentials of the application of additive manufacturing for small and medium-sized enterprises. At the beginning, digital transformation and Industry 4.0 and their latest developments in industrial manufacturing will be introduced. After this, in the second part, the first research approach will be presented which a short introduction to interoperability, followed by an overview of the current approaches to interoperability and a presentation of the approach for the development of a smart interoperable logistics environment. The last part of the paper will describe an approach to evaluate effects and potentials of additive manufacturing in context of Industry 4.0. A summary and outlook complete the paper. Both presented approaches will aid managerial decision making in relation to the presented technologies and the design of further concepts and for further research. The two approaches combine approved research concepts in the domains of logistic and interoperability as well as additive and conventional manufacturing and adapt this to new sustainable concepts for digital transformation and industry 4.0.