Smart manufacturing in Italy : available technologies, awareness and diffusion

Ever since the 1700s and the first use of the steam engine, the manufacturing processes have been revolutionized. The 2000s and the widespread use of ICT has made manufacturing even quicker, better and more optimized. Today, with the use of Smart Technologies: Cloud Manufacturing, Industrial Analytics, Industrial Internet of Things, Advanced HMI, Advanced Automation and Additive Manufacturing, everything has changed. Machines are interconnected with the help of sensors and IIoT, making the production process easier and more streamlined, the Cloud allows on-line on-demand services while Business Analytics help the managers get the highest yield of a product by exploiting statistical and data mining rules. The first part of this thesis tries to understand and analyze the presence of Smart Technologies worldwide, while the second part is focused on Italian manufacturing companies. Also, a short review of the classical, more matured, technologies on which these new ones are based is given. The research shows that Smart Technologies are mainly used in big companies, especially in the Automotive, Aerospace and Defense and Machine Production sectors. Currently, the most widespread Smart Technology is Industrial Internet of Things both worldwide and in Italy, while Advanced Human-Machine Interface and Additive Manufacturing show strong prospects to become mainstream in the future. The results that focus on Italy show that although many companies have already implemented some of the Smart Technologies, the biggest problems they face are the lack of awareness and comprehension of these technologies along with a vast digital skill gap.