The intelligent production of the future

The increasing connectivity combined with the shorter innovation cycles especially in software-based systems requires products to be upgradable in order to fulfill the consumers’ expectations for the newest technology. This leads to shorter product life cycles, increased variety and volatile sales figures, which a manufacturer must react to quickly and flexibly in order to maintain a competitive edge. Production systems must therefore be able to continually rescale their output without loss of efficiency. This survey tries to understand the future challenges of companies regarding their flexibility of production systems when it comes to constantly changing volumes and variants.