Far from just a concept based on longstanding aspirations of Industry 4.0, the Factory of the Future means going beyond the walls of production to optimize digital operations and transform the entire connected manufacturing ecosystem.
The goal is the "smart factory" with cyber-physical systems capable of autonomously exchanging information, triggering actions, and controlling each other independently.
This facilitates fundamental improvements to the industrial processes involved in manufacturing, engineering, material usage, asset performance and management, and supply chain and lifecycle management.