Not all factories are ready to go the way of lights-out manufacturing, where autonomous robots occupy a factory and don’t require lights at all; where it is just rows of machines functioning in the dark.
But that doesn’t mean technology isn’t changing and influencing the way a modern factory operates and what products it can create. From the industrial internet of things (IIoT), to 3D printing, to robotics, to the rising use of industrial lasers, integrating new technologies into a factory makes manufacturing more autonomous, cheaper and more efficient.
IIoT is seen as a game changer for the modern factory. Connected factories are capable of monitoring and controlling virtually anything in the manufacturing process, and can be managed either from the factory floor or remotely.