Introduction to Material Feeding 4.0: Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Impact

Abstract

Mass customization, the process of producing a low-volume high-variety of products, is changing production environments. In Material Feeding (MF) this means a huge increment in the number of parts, and information, that need to be managed during the different MF activities. If companies want to get high performances from their MF activities, they need to be able to manage these changes in the best manner. Industry 4.0 technologies are introducing new opportunities to help companies in the execution and control of the MF activities. It is important for companies to be able to understand how to implement these technologies in their processes and how to take these opportunities. In order to facilitate this, in this paper the concept of Material Feeding 4.0 (MF 4.0) is presented for the first time, as Material Feeding where the Industry 4.0 technologies are introduced. The impact of the identified technologies is studied at a strategic, tactical and operational level.