Smartification in the Mechanical Engineering Industry: A Typology of Smart Machines

The 'smartification' of machines refers to the enhancement of physical machines with digital technologies and services and represents a recent and important trend in the mechanical engineering industry. Due to their significant business potential, smart machines and especially their design has received increasing attention in practice and research alike. While related studies typically focus on the design of smart machines from a technological perspective, machine design patterns from a (socio-technical) business-use perspective have been largely neglected thus far. Against this backdrop, we draw on design dimensions and characteristics identified in prior research and conduct a cluster analysis of a total of 110 machines offered by mechanical engineering companies to develop a typology of smart machines. The analysis results point to four smart machine types (single-item performer, batch and mass monitor, batch and mass optimizer, and batch allrounder), thereby advancing our understanding of smart machine design patterns.

Automated summary

The 'smartification' of machines is a recent and important trend in the mechanical engineering industry, involving enhancing physical machines with digital technologies and services. While most studies focus on the technological aspect of designing smart machines, the business-use perspective of machine design patterns has been largely neglected.