Industry 4.0 is more than just digitalization and robotic process automation. The idea of what is called a smart factory is also about using cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things in production. Here, machines are able to configure and diagnose themselves, and the factory manager may check on the production through the cloud even from the other side of the globe. And the Production Cell 4.0 by research centre INTEMAC proves that these aren’t just visions.

INTEMAC is a research, development, and educational centre based in Kuřim. It focuses on applied research, experimental development, and education in engineering production technologies. Its aim is to strengthen the competitiveness of Czech producers and suppliers of production technologies. INTEMAC research centre is managed by Intemac Solutions s.r.o., a daughter company of South Moravian Innovation Centre (JIC). And the project is supported also by the South Moravian Region, Brno University of Technology, and other major engineering companies from #brnoregion.

Various individual devices can be interconnected with the Cell, so it can be used for a small-scale production as well. The production can be modified even several times a day, so it can be used also for small-scale jobs to produce various components for prices equal to a large-scale production. Besides, the Cell can check its products on its own, and when it finds an imperfection it sends out information to the machine which fixes the workpiece itself.

“Most of the Czech production companies have no idea what to expect from the transition to smart production, so we decided to use a laboratory model of a real operation to demonstrate how to apply the elements of this concept to existing production devices. The companies could thus make use of the benefits Industry 4.0 brings without having to hugely invest into new machine equipment,” says Radomír Zbožínek, director of INTEMAC.

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