A framework for collaborative practices platforms for humans and machines in industry 4.0–oriented smart and sustainable manufacturing environments

Abstract

Collaborative practices and platforms in the context of Industry 4.0, or I4.0 for short, have to enable integration of manufacturing processes and information flow through digitalization and underlying services and devices to be able to connect humans with humans, humans with machines, and machines with machines on a dynamic and real-time basis. Such integration is also currently fundamental in the scope of sustainable manufacturing practices regarding appropriate means for enabling processes and information under collaborative modes of function based on advanced information and communication technology and platforms. Therefore, in this chapter, a concept for supporting collaborative practice platforms in the context of I4.0 is proposed. Moreover, a collaborative practice platform for Industry 4.0 is proposed for supporting human and machine interactions, which is further analyzed and compared with five other existing platforms with reference to a set of 17 criteria that are considered relevant for supporting manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 context and underlying cyber-physical systems.