3. The Digital Factory

Guest: Professor Björn Johansson, Chalmers University of Technology

"The digital factory is our laboratory… [whose] data comes from the real world".

In this episode, Professor Björn Johansson talks about virtual production and digital twins, and shares with us how digital tools (for instance, 3D imaging, discrete event simulation) can help improve the sustainability performance of factories. Björn's research group aims at improving productivity and the circular-economy performance in not only automotive and aerospace, but also in the maritime, textile and electronics industry. Björn also discussed utilization strategies in research (publishing or patenting?), and the open collaboration pattern between research and academia in Sweden. Björn also remarked how awareness of the production system's performance and behaviour leads to smarter decisions for sustainability. Answering the tricky question about the huge number of jobs' displacement because of AI, Björn shares his positive outlook about the future, when industrial performance are optimized, people have new types of jobs and more time for leisure.

Read more about:

• Björn Johansson, Professor of Sustainable Production at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science at Chalmers.
• Ecoprodigi, a flagship project to foster eco-efficiency in the Baltic Sea region maritime sector through digital solutions in vessel's design and ship operations.
• BOOST 4.0, an EU project that aims at developing and testing models for data-driven Factory 4.0 through ten lighthouse factories.
• Opportunities of Sustainable Manufacturing in Industry 4.0 by T. Stock and G. Seliger, Procedia CIRP, Volume 40, 2016.