The world of manufacturing is undergoing significant changes driven by various factors and technological advancements. Automation and robotics technologies are revolutionizing manufacturing processes. Robotic systems are being increasingly used for repetitive and precise tasks, improving efficiency, quality, and safety. The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling connectivity and data exchange between devices and systems. Manufacturing generates vast amounts of data and is leveraging this data through advanced analytics, providing valuable insights to optimize production processes, predict maintenance needs, and improve supply chain management. Additive Manufacturing has also gained significant traction in manufacturing. It enables the creation of complex parts and prototypes, customization, and rapid prototyping. Supply chains are becoming more interconnected and digitally integrated. Technologies such as blockchain enable transparent and secure transactions, traceability, and efficient inventory management. These trends and others are reshaping the manufacturing industry, promoting increased efficiency, agility, and sustainability. Manufacturers must be aware, understand, and embrace these changes to stay competitive and meet the evolving demands of customers in the modern era. This book enhances the awareness and understanding of these core technologies by explaining what they are and how they are being used in manufacturing. In addition, it provides practical suggestions on how to advance manufacturing in light of these changes. The book provides a view into the future and direction on how to navigate the journey to a more automated, smarter, and continuously learning factory. This book consolidates the major elements of the fourth industrial revolution and describes them in clear terms within the context of integrated manufacturing. It creates awareness and a fundamental understanding of the advanced technologies that are coming together to facilitate highly automated, smarter, agile, and sustainable operations.

In the 21st century, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems will not only be the economic development tools but will also be the essential means of achieving a higher level of flexibility, cohesiveness and performance. CIM systems are beginning to settle into our society and industries, with greater emphasis on the integration of economic, cultural and social aspects together with design, planning, factory automation and artificial intelligent systems.This volume of proceedings brings together 10 keynote and invited speaker addresses, and over 180 papers by practitioners from 28 countries. It documents current research and in-depth studies on the fundamental aspects of advanced CIM systems and their practical applications. The papers fall into 3 main sections: CIM Related Issues; Industrial AI Applications Aspects; and Concurrent Engineering, Advanced Design, Simulation and Flexible Manufacturing Systems.

This book states that intelligent digital transformation is the process of using artificial intelligence techniques in digital technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, automation and robotics to transform existing non-digital business processes and services to meet with the evolving market and customer expectations. This book including 26 chapters, each written by their experts, focuses on revealing the reflection of digital transformation in our business and social life under emerging conditions through intelligent systems. Intelligent digital transformation examples from almost all sectors including health, education, manufacturing, tourism, insurance, smart cities, banking, energy and transportation are introduced by theory and applications. The intended readers are managers responsible for digital transformation, intelligent systems researchers, lecturers, and MSc and PhD students studying digital transformation.

Are super-capable robots and algorithms destined to devour our jobs and idle much of the adult population? Predictions of a jobless future have recurred in waves since the advent of industrialization, only to crest and retreat as new jobs-usually better ones-have replaced those lost to machines. But there's good reason to believe that this time is different. Ongoing innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics are already destroying more decent middle-skill jobs than they are creating, and may be leading to a future of growing job scarcity. But there are many possible versions of that future, ranging from utterly dystopian to humane and broadly appealing. It all depends on how we respond. This book confronts the hotly-debated prospect of mounting job losses due to automation, and the widely-divergent hopes and fears that prospect evokes, and proposes a strategy for both mitigating the losses and spreading the gains from shrinking demand for human labor. We should set our collective sights, it argues, on ensuring access to adequate incomes, more free time, and decent remunerative work even in a future with less of it. Getting there will require not a single "magic bullet" solution like universal basic income or a federal job guarantee but a multi-pronged program centered on conserving, creating, and spreading work. What the book proposes for a foreseeable future of less work will simultaneously help to address growing economic inequality and persistent racial stratification, and makes sense here and now but especially as we face the prospect of net job losses.

How quickly the technological 'flavour of the month' changes. At the beginning of the 1980's many saw 'robotics' as being something of a pana cea for those problems in the manufacturing industries which had been exacerbated by the world recession. Those working at the time in the field of robotics stressed that robots themselves were only part of the solution. Yet in many quarters the 'hype' for the new technology apparently knew few bounds, resulting, inexorably, in many industries painfully discover ing for themselves a new realism, closely followed by disillusionment. In its wider sense the term 'robotics' covers an extremely broad spec trum of technologies ranging from extremely flexible, highly sensory and integrated systems capable of handling a very diverse product range, through to comparatively inflexible, high volume systems which can merely handle slightly different variations of the same basic product. As a result of the one 'buzzword' referring to such a variety of actual system types, the disillusionment which started to become apparent during the early 1980's acted as something of a double edged sword. A given com pany might consider a particular robotics-based technological solution to its production problems, find that it was unsuitable, and so renounce all robotics approaches as inappropriate. Yet just because one position on that spectrum of technological solutions was unsuitable for the company should not have led them to assume that there was no other robotics solu tion that was appropriate.

This book explains and exemplifies how SMEs can embrace the Smart Production approach and technologies in order to gain a beneficiary outcome. The book describes the Smart Production vision for SMEs, as well as the method to get there. The concept behind the book is based on the long-term experience of the authors in researching and tackling problems of SMEs in the manufacturing sector. The book provides applied methods and obtained solutions in different branches and different sizes of SMEs, encompassing a broad survey of our markets and societies. The perspective is systemic/holistic and integrated including human, organizational, technological, and digital perspectives.

This book defines and discusses the term “hidden geographies” in two ways: systematically and by presenting a variety of examples of the research fields and topics concerning hidden geographies, with the aim of stimulating further basic and applied research in this area. While the term is quite rarely used in the scientific literature (more often as a figure of speech than to illustrate or problematize its deeper meaning), we argue that hidden geographies are everywhere and many of them have significant impacts on (other) natural and social phenomena and processes, subsequently triggering changes, for example in landscape, economy, culture, health or quality of life. The introductory section of the book conceptualises hidden geographies and discusses cognitive geography, symbolization of space, and the hidden geographies in mystical literature. Case studies of hidden environmental geographies address soils, air pollution, coastal pollution and the allocation of an astronomical tourism site. Revealing hidden historical and sacred places is illustrated through examples of the visualisation of the subterranean mining landscape, the analysis of the historical road network and trade, border stones and historical spatial boundaries, and the monastic Carthusian space. Hidden urban geographies are discussed in terms of the urban development of an entire city, presenting the role of geography in rescuing architecture, revealing illegal urbanisation, and the quality of habitation in Roma neighbourhoods. Case studies of hidden population geographies shed light on the ageing of rural populations and the impact of spatial-demographic disparities on fertility variations. Discussions of hidden social and economic geographies problematize recent social changes and conflicts in a country, present the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution and borders as hidden obstacles in the organisation of public transport. Hidden geographies are explicitly linked to perceptions and explanations in case studies that address local responses to perceived marginalisation in a city, the solo women travellers’ perceived risk and safety, and hidden geographical contexts of visible post-war landscapes. The book brings such a diversity of views, ideas and examples related to hidden geographies that can serve both to deepen their understanding and their various impacts on our lives and environment, and to attract further cross-disciplinary interest in considering hidden geographies – in research and in our every-day lives.

Industry 5.0, a concept introduced in a book, explores the future of work and collaboration, focusing on the integration of human skills and machine capabilities. The book acknowledges the advancements in technology, particularly automation and artificial intelligence, and proposes a new paradigm that emphasizes the integration of human skills and machine capabilities. The concept of "co-creation" is central, leveraging the unique strengths of both humans and machines to achieve innovation and problem- solving. The notion of "augmented intelligence" suggests that machines canenhance human capabilities, leading to greater job satisfaction and thedevelopment of new skills. The book emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning within organizations, fostering a growth mindset and providing opportunities for upskilling and reskilling. However, the book also acknowledges potential ethical implications, such as privacy concerns and job displacement, and emphasizes the need for support and retraining opportunities.

We have been told for ages that technology would make our lives easier. Instead, we increasingly find ourselves drowning in tedious tasks and feeling trapped in the daily grind—overflowing calendars, endless to-do lists, and a never-ending stream of interruptions. And since we\\\'re always connected, our work never seems to end. Imagine a world where technology finally starts taking care of all the boring stuff so you can focus on what really matters to you. Where smart AI apps empower you to create anything you can imagine, and even things you never would have thought of. Where you have the power to redesign work around your life, not the other way around. This is the era of \\\"No Work.\\\" It\\\'s not about escaping work but about using our skills and leveraging the possibilities unlocked by AI so that our days are primarily comprised of the things we are passionate about. Because that\\\'s how we can create something extra - ordinary. Inside this book, you\'ll find hundreds of practical examples and tips: How to find, select, and use the right digital tools for anything you do. How to make your productivity skyrocket with AI and reclaim your time. How to do things your way—with greater freedom by automating more tasks. How to craft the work you want, whether you\\\'re an entrepreneur or an employee. How to seize new opportunities and build a future-proof career. The book will provide you with loads of tips on the best apps and tools that are part of the AI revolution, but the real magic is how it changes the way you think. You\\\'ll learn new skills and timeless principles that will keep you ahead of the game, no matter how AI changes the way we work. FILIP DRIMALKA (pronounced like \\\"Phil Dream\\\") is a digital innovation expert and a sought-after European consultant on technology adoption. He is the founder of Digiskills, Digitask, and Digi Challenge – projects that are helping hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of individuals upskill and thrive in the digital age. Filip resides in the \\\"Central European hot spot\\\" – Brno, with his wife and two children. When he\\\'s not driving digital transfor - mation, you can find him skiing, surfing, or mountain biking. He doesn’t just write about No Work. He actually lives it.

This book provides a detailed theoretical background of Logistics 4.0 using real-world examples and case studies and proposes a methodological framework to understand the technological revolutions happening in the present day from the perspective of logistics management. With the fourth industrial revolution, new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, 3D printers and the Internet of Things started to take greater prominence in the world of business. One of the sectors most affected by changes brought on by this Industry 4.0 is logistics, which has given rise to the concept of Logistics 4.0. Covering a wide range of topics on Logistics 4.0, such as warehousing, big data, 3D printing, robotics and cloud computing, this book would be a valuable read for those involved in logistics management, academics and students in the areas of supply chain management, logistics, industry 4, and big data. .