# Smart Manufacturing Application in Precision Manufacturing
## 1 Introduction  
Innovation and technology have played a significant role in transforming the manufacturing industry. The development of irrigation engineering techniques over the years has transformed agricultural society. The progress in mathematics and in mechanics in the 9 th and 12 th centuries, respectively, led to the first automation of machines that translated rotary motion into linear motion. This subsequently enabled the development of self-driven water-rising machines, water pumps, and later stream power in the late 18 th century, which enabled the industrial transformation [1]. The increase in mechanization, the spread of electricity, and the introduction of the assembly line concept the late 19 th century enabled mass production. The advancements in electronic devices and IT systems, which made robotics and automation possible in the second half of the 20 th century, enabled mass customization. The advancements in the internet, computing, communication technologies and data science in the 21 st century have disrupted industry with the fourth wave of industrial revolution, enabling mass personalization [2]. Digital transformation refers to the process of using digital technology to improve or create new business processes, culture, and customer experience to meet changing business and market requirements. Smart manufacturing is a term used to define the application of digital technologies and industry 4.0 concepts in the factory in order to enhance manufacturing processes. It involves the integration of various technologies, data analytics, and human ingenuity to improve manufacturing, production, speed, quality, and overall efficiency, which, as a result, reduce waste and contribute to customer value. On the other hand, the lean philosophy is about removing waste from a process using a set of methodologies summarized as value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection. These methodologies require data to be collected, information to be analyzed, insights to be realized, and improvements to be made, which eventually lead to less waste and improved effectiveness. Smart manufacturing provides visibility into the manufacturing processes and allows relevant information to be distributed to every level of the enterprise, turning data into actionable insights. This provides support to lean methodologies to quickly identify and map the value stream as well as measure and analyze insights for improvements to be made and waste to be removed from the process. For example, the application of IoT provides data and insights to empower value stream mapping for the steps that do not create value to be identified and eliminated. The application of AI in manufacturing provides further insights for perfection. The automation of data flow across systems enables flow and pull methodologies, for example, by providing an alert if a defect or a problem is encountered, enabling root cause analysis to be performed and preventing defects from being passed upstream. The relationship between smart manufacturing and the lean methodology is that they share common expected outcomes, which are waste reduction and cost competitiveness; therefore, lean manufacturing implementation integrated with smart manufacturing leads to high operational performance improvements [3]. Smart manufacturing supports continuous improvements and lean principles, making lean and smart manufacturing complement each other [4]. The term industry 4.0 was coined in Germany over a decade ago to indicate the birth of a new era of manufacturing, offering opportunities to improve productivity and competitiveness [5]. Today, there are more complex challenges facing industry, mainly associated with resilience, sustainability, and skills.