Internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics (BDA) for digital manufacturing (DM)

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the impact of enterprise architecture (EA) on system capabilities in dealing with changes and uncertainties in globalised business environments. Enterprise information systems are viewed as information systems to acquire, process, and utilise data in decision-making supports at all levels and domains of businesses, and Internet of things (IoT), big data analytics (BDA), and digital manufacturing (DM) are introduced as representative enabling technologies for data collection, processing, and utilisation in manufacturing applications. The historical development of manufacturing technologies is examined to understand the evolution of system paradigms. The Shannon entropy is adopted to measure the complexity of systems and illustrate the roles of EAs in managing system complexity and achieving system stability in the long term. It is our argument that existing EAs sacrifice system flexibility, resilience, and adaptability for the reduction of system complexity; note that higher adaptability is critical to make a manufacturing system successfully. New EA is proposed to maximise system capabilities for higher flexibility, resilience, and adaptability. The potentials of the proposed EA to modern manufacturing are explored to identify critical research topics with illustrative examples from an application perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable manufacturing
• Internet of things (IoT)
• big data analytics (BDA)
• digital manufacturing (DM)
• cyber-physical systems (CPSs)
• enterprise architecture (EA)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhuming Bi

Zhuming Bi is a Professor at the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University Fort Wayne. His research interests are computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), finite element analysis, machine designs, robotics and automation, and enterprise systems. Professor Bi has authored or co-authored four books, including three textbooks on ‘Finite Element Analysis Applications’, ‘computer-aided design and manufacturing’, and ‘DM’. In addition, Professor Bi has published 10 book chapters, 130 journal articles, and over 50 articles in conference proceedings. Currently, he teaches various courses in mechanical engineering including Solid Modelling, Kinematics and Dynamics of Machinery, Machine Design, Manufacturing Processes, Finite Element Analysis, and Mechatronics.

Yan Jin

Yan Jin is a Professor at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. He obtained both his Bachelor and Master degree in mechanical engineering at the Dalian University of Technology China, in 1998 and 2002, respectively, and received his PhD from Nanyang Technological University Singapore in 2007. Dr Jin’s research interest is in parallel kinematic machines, robotics, digital lean and green manufacturing, high-performance machining, and production management. He is a member of the prestigious EPSRC Early Career Forum in Manufacturing Research, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, and a member of the technical committee of the UK-RAS network. He is an associate editor of IMechE Journal of Engineering Manufacture and an editorial board member of Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering. Dr Jin has published over 100 peer-reviewed technical papers. He is a chartered engineer, chair of the robotics committee in UK IFToMM, board member of IMechE MICG, and a member of IMechE.

Paul Maropoulos

Paul Maropoulos is a Professor and the Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland and the Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Queen’s University Belfast. Professor Maropoulos graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and completed his MSc and PhD at UMIST, UK. Prior to joining Queen’s, Prof Maropoulos has held Professorial appointments at the Universities of Durham, Bath, and Aston. He is a Chartered Engineer and has a strong influence in the engineering profession in the UK as a Fellow and Board member of the Manufacturing Industries Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He maintains an international research presence as a Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP) and is the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Engineering Manufacture, Part B of the Proceedings of the IMechE. His research interests include manufacturing processes, DM, design verification, measurement enabled production, and supply chain readiness with funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK, ERDF, and EU as well as blue-chip companies, like Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Caterpillar, Nissan, Thorn Lighting, and Renishaw.

Wen-Jun Zhang

Chris Wen-Jun Zhang is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Advanced Engineering Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, as well as a Chair Professor with the East China University of Science of Technology, Shanghai, China. He received his PhD degree from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in 1994. He is the author or co-author of over 320 refereed technical publications, with over 200 papers in refereed journals and over 130 papers in refereed conference proceedings in a broad scope of fields, including design and mechatronics, manufacturing, informatics, and human–machine systems. Professor Zhang is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He serves as a senior editor for ASME/IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics and an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Systems Science and Enterprise Information Systems.

Lihui Wang

Lihui Wang is a Professor and Chair of Sustainable Manufacturing at KTH, Sweden. He received his PhD and MSc from Kobe University (Japan) in 1993 and 1990, respectively, and BSc in China in 1982. Professor Wang has published 10 books, 15 conference proceedings, and 32 journal special issues. He has authored or co-authored more than 550 scientific articles in archival journals, books, and peer-reviewed conference proceedings in the above research areas. He is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Manufacturing Research, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Editor-in-Chief of Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, Editor of Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing (2007–2019), Associate Editor of International Journal of Production Research, and an Editorial Board Member of other 16 international journals. He is also a Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), a Fellow of The International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), a Fellow of SME, a Fellow of ASME, and a registered Professional Engineer in Canada.