The smart factory is, as the name suggests, an intelligent production environment. The degree of maturity is not further defined, but the factory must be extensively networked and have a high degree of automation. The ideal smart factory is completely self-organizing, because products and plants are able to exchange data independently. Based on the collected data, the controlling system (e.g. an MES) then makes appropriate decisions. The Smart Factory is a core component of Industry 4.0

Overview