General Aspects of the Application of Computational Methods in Industry 4.0

Abstract

Since the beginning of the first industrial revolution, engineers were always attempting to resolve problems related to the operation of machinery and their maintenance. They also aimed at the improvement of the efficiency of manufacturing processes and generally at the organization of the production and other relative subjects. As it was anticipated, systematic approaches for the scientific study of industry-related problems were established and the solutions were proposed. However, after the introduction of computers and development of computational methods, a new promising era for solving industry-related problems emerged, as advanced computational techniques were capable of providing approximate but significantly accurate solutions. Especially, when it is desired to increase the efficiency of manufacturing processes by determining the optimum process parameters or when the solution of hard production-based problems, such as scheduling, is required, optimization methods can be employed.