Societal impact of IoT-lead smart factory in the context of Industry 4.0

Transformation of traditional manufacturing into intelligent manufacturing has intrigued the manufacturing firms at a global level. The focal objective of the concept of Industry 4.0 is to distinguish highly digitized manufacturing processes where flow of information amid different devices is controlled in an environment with very limited human intervention. Different and complex physical and cyber technologies make Industry 4.0 a way to improve performance, quality, controllability, management and transparency of information of manufacturing processes. Although Industry 4.0 provides numerous potential opportunities to manufacturers, most firms still lack insight into the variety of technologies available in Industry 4.0 as well as the challenges and risks it poses to the society with its implementation. This paper summarizes the available technologies by reviewing existing studies on it, identifies challenges linked to Industry 4.0 and provides guidance to implementing smart factory in the context of Industry 4.0.