A cyber-physical framework to support ultra-flexible production

In order for manufacturing companies to remain competitive, resilient and sustainable in an ever-changing world, extreme flexibility in the production processes is required. Within the project, an extremely flexible production is defined as a highly modular and interconnected cyberphysical system, based on a system-by-system concept. Such a system can be quickly modified, and the fact is that constant change is seen as part of the normal operation of an ultra-flexible system. This results in the ability to move equipment around to support new or alternative production processes, reconfiguring equipment in real time as a response to production disruptions. At the same time, it is ensured that changes result in a system-cyber-physical configuration that is optimal from a sustainability perspective. The core of the framework is based on the popular concept of digital twins, which are virtual dynamic representations of physical production resources and subsystems. With the digital twins, the flexibility of the production system can be maximized efficiently both in conceptual stages and in operation. From a technical perspective, the purpose of the framework is to enable seamless integration between, and implementation of, digital twins in production – a concept we call the cyberphysical continuum. By realizing a cyberphysical continuum, the project will play a significant role in the cyberphysical transformation of the Swedish manufacturing industry and enable extremely flexible production that improves competitiveness, resilience and sustainability.