Abstract
Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is a service oriented business model to share manufacturing capabilities and resources on a cloud platform. Manufacturing is under pressure to achieve cost and environmental impact reductions, as manufacturing becomes more integrated and complex. Cloud manufacturing offers a solution, as it is capable of making intelligent decisions to provide the most sustainable and robust manufacturing route available. Although CM research has progressed, a consensus is still lacking on the concepts within CM as well as applications and scope beyond discrete manufacturing.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how CM offers a more sustainable manufacturing future to the industry as a whole, before focusing specifically on the application to process manufacturing (e.g. food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals). This paper details the definitions, characteristics, architectures and previous case studies on CM. From this, the fundamental aspects of the CM concept are identified, along with an analysis of how the concept has progressed. A new, comprehensive CM definition is formulated by combining key concepts drawn from previous definitions and emphasizes CM potential for sustainable manufacturing.Four key methods of how CM increases sustainability are identified: (1) collaborative design; (2) greater automation; (3) improved process resilience and (4) enhanced waste reduction, reuse and recovery. The first two key methods are common to both discrete and process manufacturing, however key methods (3) and (4) are more process manufacturing specific and application of CM for these has yet to be fully realised. Examples of how CM’s characteristics may be utilised to solve various process manufacturing problems are presented to demonstrate the applications of CM to process manufacturing. Waste is an important consideration in manufacturing, with strong sustainability implications. The current focus has been on using CM for waste minimisation; however, process manufacturing offers waste as a resource (valorisation opportunities from diversifying co-products, reuse, recycle and energy recovery). Exploring CM’s potential to characterise and evaluate alternative process routes for the valorisation of process manufacturing waste is considered for the first time. The specific limitations preventing CM adoption by process manufacturers are discussed. Finally, CM’s place in the future of manufacturing is explored, including how it will interact with, and complement other emerging manufacturing technologies to deliver a circular economy and personalised products.
Highlights
Manufacturing is a vital sector in society, irrespective of being a high or low-income economy
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Cloud Manufacturing (CM) offers a more sustainable manufacturing future to the industry as a whole, before focusing on the application to process manufacturing
Governments are facing the further challenge of developing policies which support manufacturing, while maintaining their commitment made in Paris to lower carbon emissions [4]
Summary
Manufacturing is a vital sector in society, irrespective of being a high or low-income economy. Underlying the CM model is the concept of sharing manufacturing capabilities and resources on a cloud platform capable of making intelligent decisions to provide the most sustainable and robust manufacturing route available. Cloud manufacturing has the potential to be a key component in the future manufacturing landscape It complements emerging manufacturing processes, such as Additive Manufacturing (AM), to deliver consumer customised products via sustainable processes. The ManuCloud project objective was to investigate and develop a cloud-based infrastructure to provide better support for on-demand manufacturing supply chains in the photovoltaic, organic lighting and automotive sectors [16]. Cloud manufacturing has potential to work within Industry 4.0 to exploit an on-demand access to a shared collection of manufacturing resources to form temporary, reconfigurable supply chains with enhanced efficiency, reduced production costs, and optimal resource allocation. What limitations specific to process manufacturing currently prevent the widespread adoption of CM, and what future research is necessary to overcome these limitations?
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