Internet of Production: Unleashing the Full Potential of Industry 4.0 – A Comprehensive Review of Trends, Drivers, and Challenges

Abstract

The rapid advancement of Industry 4.0 technologies has revolutionized industrial processes and production systems, creating unprecedented optimization opportunities. The Internet of Production (IoP) concept has emerged as a transformative approach that capitalizes on integrating cyber-physical systems, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to drive efficient, flexible, and intelligent manufacturing. This study explores the current state of expert discourse on the symbiotic relationship between IoP and Industry 4.0, focusing on production technology, automation, and digitalization. For this purpose, we performed a content-centric qualitative review in a systematic manner. The findings show that connectivity, data-driven decision-making, flexibility, intelligent optimization, digital twins, and collaborative networks promotes IoP's potential within Industry 4.0. Overall, this study explains how harnessing the potential of IoP by enhancing efficiency, productivity, and innovation in industrial processes contributes to Industry 4.0, and how understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of IoP, leveraging advanced technologies, and data-driven approaches can pave the way for the future of efficient, flexible, and intelligent manufacturing systems.