Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Overview Of Smart Manufacturing In West Virginia, Thorsten Wuest, Patrick Schmid, Brian Lego, Eric Bowen

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

The manufacturing sector is currently reinventing itself by embracing the opportunities offered by the industrial internet, automation, and machine learning, just to name a few. This development is commonly referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Smart Manufacturing. While Smart Manufacturing can be observed around the globe, there are distinct differences in how it is adopted and embraced between countries, industries, and companies of different sizes. Small- and medium-sized manufacturers are generally understood as the backbone of the manufacturing sector. However, these manufacturers face specific challenges when it comes to the transition toward Smart Manufacturing. This report presents the …