The concept of smart manufacturing is based on the merging of the physical and virtual worlds, which opens up new areas of innovation to optimize the entire sector to create higher-quality products, improve productivity, increase energy efficiency, and sustain safer plant floors. Given the widespread recognition of the value of this system, it is predicted that smart manufacturing will usher in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This course is an advanced version of the previous course offered on the introduction to smart manufacturing. It will provide an overview of the smart manufacturing ecosystem; smart manufacturing value realization including ideas on smart business processes, smart solutions, and smart technologies; and the implications for the types of human capital required in future.

The course will also provide a justification plan for implementing smart manufacturing with different examples that address both quantitative and qualitative criteria/indicators.