Ubiquitous knowledge empowers the Smart Factory: The impacts of a Service-oriented Digital Twin on enterprises' performance

While the Industry 4.0 is idolizing the potential of an artificial intelligence embedded into things, it is neglecting the role of the human component, which is still indispensable in different manufacturing activities, such as a machine setup or maintenance operations. The present research study first proposes an Industrial Internet pyramid as emergent human-centric manufacturing paradigm within Industry 4.0 in which central is the role of a Ubiquitous Knowledge about the manufacturing system intuitively accessed and used by the manufacturing employees. Second, the prototype of a Service-oriented Digital Twin, which leverage on a flexible ontology-oriented knowledge structure and on augmented reality combined to a vocal interaction system for an intuitive knowledge retrieval and fruition, has been designed and developed to deliver this manufacturing knowledge. Two test-beds, complimentary for the problems in practice (the former on the maintenance-production interface in a large enterprise, the latter majorly focused in production and setups in a small and medium enterprise), show the significant benefits in terms of time, costs and process quality, thus validating the approach proposed. This research shows that a human-centric and knowledge-driven approach can drive the performance of Industry 4.0 initiatives and lead a Smart Factory towards its full potential. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.