Development Of Smart Products Research Articles

A survey of immersive technologies and applications for industrial product development

With the expanded digitalization of manufacturing and product development process, research into the use of immersive technology in smart manufacturing has increased. The use of immersive technology is theorized to increase the productivity of all steps in the product development process, from the start of the concept generation phase to assembling the final product. Many aspects of immersive technology are considered, including techniques for CAD model conversion and rendering, types of VR/AR displays, interaction modalities, as well as its integration with different areas of product development. The purpose of this survey paper is to investigate the potential applications of immersive technology and advantages and potential drawbacks that should be considered when integrating the technology into the workplace. The potential application is broad, and the possibilities are continuing to expand as the technology used becomes more advanced and more affordable for commercial business to implement on a large scale. The technology is currently being utilized in the concept generation and in the design or engineering of new products. Additionally, the immersive technology have great potential to increase the productivity of assembly line workers and of the factory layout/functionality, and could provide a more hands-on form of training, which leads to the conclusion that immersive technology is the step to the future in terms of smart product development strategies to implement for employers.

Research on the Evaluation of Customer requirement Importance of Smart Products Based on Online Comments and Improved Quantitative Kano Model

With the development and popularization of smart products, the technological differences of products are decreasing, and the phenomenon of product homogeneity is becoming more and more obvious. It is necessary for the smart product manufacturing firms have the capability to analyze customer requirement deeply and adapt to the dynamically changing market quickly. Therefore, the traditional technology-oriented product development model is no longer suitable for manufacturers to obtain a competitive advantage. Based on this, this paper proposed a method to evaluate the importance of customer demands based on online comments and quantitative Kano model. First, the Python crawler tool is used to obtain online customer reviews of relevant products and the word segmentation processing is performed to obtain the product features and frequency that customers are mainly concerned about, and then the initial importance of demand can be calculated. Furthermore, use the quantitative Kano model to determine the customer satisfaction and revise the initial importance of the requirements to obtain a more reasonable ranking of the importance of user needs. Finally, a case study is carried out with the smart bracelet as an example to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the model proposed in this paper.

Beaming market simulation to the future by combining agent-based modeling with scenario analysis

Agent-based simulation has become an established method for innovation and technology diffusion research. It extends traditional approaches by modeling diffusion processes from a micro-level perspective, which enables the consideration of various heterogeneous stakeholders and their diverse interactions. While such a simulation is well suited to capture the complex behavior of markets, its application is challenging when it comes to modeling future markets. Therefore, we propose a multi-method approach that combines scenario analysis that generates multiple “pictures of the future” with an agent-based market simulation that offers insight into the potential outcomes of today’s strategic (technological) decisions in each of these futures. Thus, simulation results can provide valuable decision support for corporate planners and industrial engineers when they are engaged in technology planning. This paper describes the novel approach and illustrates it through a sample application that is based on an industry-related research project on the development and market introduction of smart products.

A function-oriented biologically analogical approach for constructing the design concept of smart product in Industry 4.0

The development of the Industry 4.0 paradigm and the advancement of information technology have aroused new consumer requirements for smart products that are capable of context awareness and autonomous control. Nature holds huge potential for inspiring innovative design concepts that can meet the ever-growing need for smart products since biology perceive and interact with their living environment for survival. However, to date, very few studies have explored the application of natural wisdom in building innovative design concepts for smart products. This paper proposes a function-oriented design approach for smart products, by analogizing to biological prototypes. To do so, a unified functional representation, based on the Function–behavior–structure (FBS) ontology, is proposed to abstract biological prototypes, followed by a fuzzy triangular numbers-based algorithm designed to locate appropriate biological prototypes as analogical sources for smart product development. Moreover, functional innovative strategies and a hybrid design process are formulated to develop design concepts of smart products, by integrating several existing engineering design methods. Finally, an illustrative design case of a smart natural resource collecting system is used to demonstrate the workability of the proposed method.

Is smart the new green? The impact of consumer environmental awareness and data network effect

PurposeNew information technologies such as IoT and big data analytics have reshaped the development of smart green products. These products exhibit two important features that are not seen in traditional products: environmental friendliness and data network effect. Based on these unique features, the authors investigate a firm's optimal selling strategy of smart green products from both the profitability and environmental perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThe authors establish stylized models to consider the optimality of three selling strategies: (1) traditional strategy – only offering traditional products, (2) green strategy – only offering smart green products, and (3) hybrid strategy – offering both traditional and smart green products.FindingsThe authors’ analysis shows that in the absence of data network effect, there will always be a conflict between profit maximization and environmental protection. However, a strategy that benefits both the firm and the environment exists when data network effect is present. Interestingly, hybrid and traditional strategies can be win-win strategies, but the green strategy cannot. Also surprisingly, the green strategy may harm the environment more as smart products become greener.Originality/valueThis study examines the economic and environmental implications of selling smart green products, and contributes to existing literature on sustainable operations and green product design by incorporating the impact of both consumer environmental awareness and data network effect. The authors’ findings shed light on how to coordinate the profitability and environmental impact of selling smart green products in the era of big data and IoT.

Development of smart products for elders within the Industry 4.0 context: a conceptual framework

Beyond the technological and managerial changes Industry 4.0 implies, society must cope with other challenges that may as well affect the economic and industrial scenario. Particularly the aging of the population presents itself as a singular challenge, to be faced on many fronts. The increasing number of elders amongst the population pushes industry to rethink its workforce, rearrange its workplace, and redesign its needed qualifications based on continuous learning strategies. On the other hand, the aging process also influences new business opportunities for emerging markets to arise as a result of new demands for products and services in the health and innovation area. How to cope with such challenges and profitably explore new business models remain questions to be answered. Seeking to shed some light on such topics, this study combined four elements to propose a conceptual framework for smart product development for the Silver Market. These elements are Industry 4.0 requirements for smart product development, Industry 4.0-related enabler technologies, the specificities of the Silver Market, and the User-Centered Design philosophy. Based on the analysis of success cases of smart product development for the Silver Market from a former European program, the framework suggests that for each of three particular product lifecycle stages there are specific Industry 4.0 requirements, which could be addressed with the aid of specific enabler technologies. By addressing the requirements in each lifecycle stage aided by the correspondent technologies and a user-centered design philosophy, the final product arises at the end of the process as more adequate to the clients’ real needs and expectations. Moreover, a way to fully adapt the company’s product development process to the context of Industry 4.0 can be paved.

Methodology to develop Digital Twins for energy efficient customizable IoT-Products

Products are increasingly individualized and enhanced to be able to communicate, e.g. via Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). However, the impact of products on sustainability (environmental and social) across their life is often not considered and analyzed. IoT-based or smart products, that are able to communicate, generate data, which can be used to monitor and optimize sustainability indicators. The Digital Twin (DT) is a new technological concept which focuses on product individual data collection and analysis. It provides the possibility to make use of the available data and optimize the systems individual sustainability as well as future product generations. However, the design and realization of such a DT requires new approaches and capabilities, which is an identified research gap. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology to develop DTs of physical IoT-based products, the so called DT V-Model with the aim to optimize the systems sustainability, specifically environmental aspects. It is based on the V-model for the development of smart products and is enhanced with additional roles and approaches for DT development. The methodology is described in detail. The result of a development cycle according to the DT-V-Model is a tested concept of a DT, which includes Digital Master (DM) data from the planning phase and Digital Shadow (DS) data from the production, operation and End of Life-phase. For a DT for energy efficiency, the Digital Master model consists of the information and models from the product development phase including the planned production and use phase energy consumption. The Digital Shadow consists of the actual production energy consumption and the use phase energy consumption. The methodology is applied to a use case of an IoT-based consumer product that can be customized to a certain degree by the consumer. A DT is developed to monitor and optimize the products energy efficiency in production and use. The necessary elements of the DT and the capabilities are depicted. The paper shows the feasibility of the methodology for the development of DTs, the necessary adaptions to common approaches for development and the specific characteristics of DT development for the aim of energy efficiency.

Impacts of nonconventional construction materials on concrete strength development: case studies

Sustainable building technology is a new approach adopted in built environment, which is focused on significantly reducing impact of the construction industry on the environment. Moreover, the world is largely driving development of sustainable and smart products to mitigate global pollution issues. In this study, assessment of the impacts of using alternative constituents such as crumb rubber, coconut shell, recycled aggregate, GGBS, human hair, banana fiber, industrial sludge, saw dust, rice husk, wood waste, textile, copper slag, textile, glass powder, plastic etc., on concrete strength development using case studies has been performed. The paper explores the research work carried out towards sustainable approach in replacement of basic composition of concrete. It focuses on various waste materials used as a substitute options in concrete and characteristic strength development along with potential challenges. Leading researches relating to sustainable materials were also explored. The results show that the alternative aggregates, mostly with minimally usage of about 20% increased the compressive strength properties of concrete. Usage of fibres to about increased the flexural property of concrete and the replacement of waste sludge didn’t show appreciable increased of compressive strength.

Toward green computing in wireless sensor networks: prediction-oriented distributed clustering for non-uniform node distribution

Recently, researchers and practitioners in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are focusing on energy-oriented communication and computing considering next-generation smaller and tiny wireless devices. The tiny sensor-enabled devices will be used for the purpose of sensing, computing, and wireless communication. The hundreds/thousands of WSNs sensors are used to monitor specific activities and report events via wireless communication. The tiny sensor-enabled devices are powered by smaller batteries to work independently in distributed environments resulting in limited maximum lifetime of the network constituted by these devices. Considering the non-uniform distribution of sensor-enabled devices in the next-generation mobility centric WSNs environments, energy consumption is imbalanced among the different sensors in the overall network environments. Toward this end, in this paper, a cluster-oriented routing protocol termed as prediction-oriented distributed clustering (PODC) mechanism is proposed for WSNs focusing on non-uniform sensor distribution in the network. A network model is presented, while categorizing PODC mechanism in two activities including setting cluster of nodes and the activity in the steady state. Further cluster set up activity is described while categorizing in four subcategories. The proposed protocol is compared with individual sensor energy awareness and distributed networking mode of clustering (EADC) and scheduled sensor activity-based individual sensor energy awareness and distributed networking mode of clustering (SA-ADC). The metrics including the overall lifetime of the network and nodes individual energy consumption in realistic next-generation WSNs environments are considered in the experimental evaluation. The results attest the reduced energy consumption centric benefits of the proposed framework PODC as compared to the literature. Therefore, the framework will be more applicable for the smart product development in the next-generation WSNs environments.

Smart Products value creation in SMEs innovation ecosystems

Technological innovations are increasing the opportunities to develop technically and economically feasible Smart Products. However, the development of Smart Products requires knowledge and capabilities that single companies usually do not possess, thus creating new opportunities for cooperation through the establishment of innovation ecosystems focused on Smart Products. Hence, this study aims at understanding possible configurations for these ecosystems by considering the required characteristics they should display to allow the development of Smart Products from their early stages. We conducted a case study in an electro-electronic and automation industrial cluster of 120 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based on 37 interviews with key participants in the ecosystem: 15 SMEs executives, 8 academics, 2 R&D center representatives, 8 large manufacturing customers, 3 business associations and 1 state government representative. As a result, we developed a conceptual framework that presents the required characteristics of an innovation ecosystem to offer Smart Products, and discloses the relationships among these characteristics.

Iot- A Technology Transfer in Manufacturing Future Products

Manufacturing field is facing more challenges than ever before, so it needs technology transfer and advancement which can ensure its relevance in a competitive global context and can promote continual improvement. Proactive action becomes an automatic process in the context of business sustainability. One of the most recent changes in the manufacturing field is the paradigm shift from traditional mechanical systems to software-driven ones. In this context, Internet of Things (IoT) provides plenty of opportunities to pioneer new products and influence interconnected systems with immeasurable scalability. IoT-driven intelligent devices that are capable of communicating with the manufacturer once they have left the production line is very much required in the present scenario. As a result, manufacturing engineers have to take into considerations of various aspects when designing their products such as software-driven controls, remote product assessment and updates, automatic product improvements which needs multitude of sensors. So Engineers are uniquely positioned to steer the course of innovation by embracing IoT, which will leads to the development of smart products. The paper provides an insight into how these possibilities can be achieved in the manufacturing field so that it will enable the organizations to demonstrate themselves in leveraging the maximum potential and developing the smarts products in terms of significant investments in monitoring, measuring and analyzing product performance, earnings stability, research culture, industry engagement and accountability to society in meeting their needs. This paper proposes a new model based solution in the area of manufacturing industry by making use of ability of IIoT and cloud computing services.

Design for Meaning of Smart Connected Products

This paper tackles the topic of meaning-driven innovation from a Product Design perspective. It focuses on the design of Smart Connected Products: internet-enabled phygital products that blend hardware and software. This category of products represents a positive field of exploration for meaning-driven innovation. The paper highlights three kinds of meaning that are relevant for Smart Connected Products: the meaningful identity of the object as product category, the meaning of the product in relation to its shape and functionality, and in relation to a phygital ecosystem. The paper reflects on the methods that can support designers in the development of meaningful smart products and presents the “Mapping the IoT” Toolkit, a downloadable tool that guides in specific activities aimed at framing the product’s meaning. Tests with the Toolkit proved the effectiveness of using cards with critical questions as a way to deepen design concepts and reach a common, meaningful vision.

Aspects of Body Metrics Data Management in the Long Term for the European Fitness Industry

AbstractThe dawn of the fourth industrial revolution, mostly known through the German initiative “Industrie 4.0”, builds on a set of technologies emerging from software and information and communication technologies (ICT); paired with the growth of the Internet-of-Things (IoT), the so-called “smart products” are expanding on the market. These smart products integrate data collection and processing capacities. Additionally, the collected data have their own lifecycle, and can be classified as sensitive data. In that sense, companies developing hardware products may need support to step in “smart products” development. Digital transformation strategy is a possible overall support for companies. However, regarding smart product development and IoT data management, no studies to date have addressed formalized guidelines to support companies. This article proposes a set of guidelines focusing on IoT data management to support hardware companies in their transformation towards smart products. The proposed guidelines are exemplified on a fitness industry case which is using wearable devices collecting body metrics, considered as sensitive data.

TecHUB 4.0 - Technology and Entrepreneurship Education for Bridging the Gap in Smart Product Development

Additive manufacturing is a worldwide trend and has been successfully adopted in a wide variety of domains. With applications ranging from automotive, aerospace, military, consumer goods bioprinting and even wearable electronics, the need for trained workforce in additive manufacturing is in high demand. Academia all around the world is adapting to this new trend trying to develop new strategies in delivering suitable competences to their undergraduate, masters’ and PhD students. Such an initiative is the Erasmus+ project TecHUB 4.0 which brings together four complementary universities from Romania, United Kingdom and Poland. The main goal of the project is to bring together professors, industry specialists, researchers, managers, and entrepreneurs to deliver, using methods based on modern teaching technologies, especially on the use of web-based platforms and digital technologies – e-learning and interactive platforms, their knowledge to the young students wishing to become entrepreneurs in the additive manufacturing area. An Open Interactive Platform will be designed to be used equally by companies, by universities and by students, which will aggregate the demand and offer for internships developed in the scope of developing projects anchored in the day-to-day additive manufacturing business activity to solve concrete problems, but at the same time respecting all the economic constraints imposed on a business at beginning of its life.

Crowd Engineering – Approach for Smart and Agile Product Development in Networks

Product life cycles are getting shorter. Companies are working to shorten development of new products and ramp-up of production. Based on increased customization, the production volume is reduced, too. In view of the magic triangle of production optimization, companies are forced to reduce (1) costs and (2) time while ensuring consistent (3) quality.The introduction of Crowd Engineering can support companies in their task of improving their product development approaches. By integrating professionals as well as nonprofessionals in the product development processes, well-designed products with reduced utilization of human resources are possible. The current research shows major requirements and challenges, which need to be addressed: Whom does the crowd to be addressed consist of? How can development tasks be outsourced to the crowd and how can the results be reintegrated into internal processes of the company? Which areas can be co-worked by the crowd? Companies must identify their core issues in engineering in order to manage efforts sensibly. With the definition of tasks for the community, it is required to identify appropriate interfaces to provide space for open innovation through the crowd. The tasks should focus on areas without relevance for competition, thus avoiding making intellectual property rights publicly available. In this paper, the current research on distributed development processes and crowds shall be presented. Application formats enabling Crowd Engineering and arising challenges are presented. Additionally, the motivation of companies is discussed.

Sociotechnical solution patterns for the development of smart products

For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) it is a challenge to identify precisely the suitable smart product solution according to their demands. Therefore, this submission presents a stepwise methodology, which guides SMEs through the early stage of product development using sociotechnical patterns. Sociotechnical patterns consider technological, organizational and human aspects equally. A stepwise methodology supports the selection and use of them. First, the individual demands concerning smart products are systematically analyzed. In the second phase, suitable solution patterns are identified. In the final phase, the selected pattern is individually specified and the smart product is conceptualized using the pattern template.

Systematic product development methodology for customizable IoT devices

Increasing diverse consumer demands, rapid advancements in digital technology and increasing internet access is shifting the market trend to smart, connected and customized Internet of Things (IoT) products. This forces industries to design, develop and mass produce affordable smart customized products to stay ahead of the competition. Early in the product development stage the complete product lifecycle needs to be taken into account. Here, concepts such as systems engineering, mass customization, flexible production planning and smart manufacturing with customer integration, can address new challenges and change the way products are being handled within their life cycles. The motivation of this paper is to present a systematic product development methodology for developing customizable IoT devices, which involve more processes than a mass-produced mechatronic product. Concepts such as variant management and smart service management come into picture to enable an efficient customizable smart product development. Numerous product development methodologies already exist. Therefore, in this paper, a methodology is detailed by identifying, combining and/or enhancing existing product development methodologies to assist in systematically developing smart customizable IoT.

Integrated Product, Process and Manufacturing System Development Reference Model to develop Cyber-Physical Production Systems - The Sensing, Smart and Sustainable Microfactory Case Study

This work provides a systematized process for the Sensing, Smart and Sustainable Product Development (S3-Product) applied to develop Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPSs). This reference framework is based on the Integrated Product, Process, and Manufacturing System Development Reference Model (IPPMD). The IPPMD will permit the integration between the different engineering domains that comprise the S3-Product (mechanical, electrical/electronic and software engineering). Therefore, the framework proposed provides a set of stages, activities, and tools in order to guide designers in the S3-Product realization process. The main objective of this work is to fill the lack of the design roadmaps that permit the realization of this new generation of products. A development of a S3-Microfactory as CPPS is presented as case study.

Mobilizing SMEs Towards Industrie 4.0-enabled Smart Products

Today, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of most economies. Additionally, they have the potential to become the foundation of sustainable economic growth if given the right tools and support. In order to stay competitive, SMEs have to adapt permanently both in products and production. Approaches related to the vision of Industrie 4.0 (I4.0) and Smart Factories can help SMEs to address these challenges. The use cases, implementation examples and recommendations of the “Plattform Industrie 4.0” provide a basis for these approaches. However, the success of these approaches will depend on whether or not SMEs will adopt and implement them. Nevertheless, the barriers for adopting I4.0 approaches and technologies are still high. Specialized research institutions in Germany – so-called I4.0 test environments – have a broad infrastructure for developing and testing I4.0-relevant technologies, such as production machines and equipment or ICT testing facilities.This paper introduces an approach to facilitate the collaboration between SMEs and I4.0 test environments for creating new smart products enabled by I4.0 technologies. The overarching aim is enhancing business growth for manufacturing SMEs. Key aspects of this approach are: a) A competence-based matching mechanism implemented in an online platform, b) A funding scheme provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and c) Initiating, planning, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for funded SME projects. This approach will allow the rapid and targeted development of innovative Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and innovative smart products. In addition, this approach enables the cooperation between various I4.0 test environments and the continuous improvement of their offerings to manufacturing SMEs.

User-experience Based Product Development for Mass Personalization: A Case Study

Nowadays, with the rapid development of information technologies (e.g. web 2.0, cloud computing and virtual reality) and manufacturing technologies (e.g. additive manufacturing), users become more actively involved in the product development stage to create personalized products with higher efficiency. This emerging manufacturing paradigm is known as mass personalization, of which user experience (e.g. emotional factors and product utility), co-creation (e.g. user participation), and product change (e.g. modular design) are regarded as three key characteristics. In previous studies, researchers often treat each characteristic separately with an illustrative example to demonstrate its significant effect respectively. They, however, cannot fully reflect the product development process for mass personalization, and may cause inconsistency in implementing the existing methods into real cases. To fill the gap, this work proposes a three-model based (i.e. physical model, cyber model and user experience model) generic framework for conducting user experience based product development for mass personalization. A case study of a personalized smart wearable product development is described, of which the three key characteristics are considered collectively. It can also be seen as a typical case integrating the frontier techniques to enable mass personalization. The authors hope this work can provide some useful guidance to product designers and engineer-to-order companies.