Good practice:

Industry 4.0. Lab for learning & research

This Good Practice address the lack of a learning and testing facility for Industry 4.0. applications in manufacturing. The lab has been designed by the Faculty of Engineering from Hunedoara (part of the Politechnica University of Timisoara) and funded by a private company. Although a privately funded initiative, the lab is owned by the University and is currently used by students for testing and research. The lab is a modular production line comprising distribution/conveyor, joining, and sorting stations. The entire system is networked and additionally equipped with several RFID sensors for both writing and reading data. The system processes the work orders generated by the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) software.
The lab comprises three modules all connected to a computer and each other connected to a PLC, where students can do testing in the field of control. Each module can accommodate up to 10 projects. The other part of the laboratory is a 4.0 generation plant including the flexible lines. The Flexible Line Stand provides students with the ability to observe an entire automated flow of technology from the time it is programmed to delivering end products to customers.
Following the testing phase, the lab will be used for providing services to companies active in manufacturing industries from West Region Romania.
The main stakeholders and beneficiaries of the practice are students & researchers and manufacturing companies.

65.000 Euro (for lab operationalization)

Researching the technological impact in processes such as:
Supply chain processes
Warehouse role inside the supply chain
Managing warehouse levels and purchasing policies
Warehouse planning
Lean Administration Game
Production control methods
Work organization
Pull – Kanban and CONWIP
Asset management
Maintenance strategies for maintenance managers

Services that can be provided to companies using the lab’s facilities:
- The system also addresses advanced problems of the concept of Industry 4.0, such as IT systems and economic management, logistics, by using the higher level of business administration through ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).
- Studying the impact of robotic systems in the logistics of production units, in their optimization.
- Familiarize the employees with the impact of technological developments in the optimization of industrial processes, in which the final goal is to make energy costs more efficient, the production costs, and better management of resources, both human and material.