Smart manufacturing systems for industry 4.0

Manufacturing industries have evolved from using of steam power for mechanization to using of electricity in the past two industrial revolutions. The third industrial revolution was brought about with the application of information technology in manufacturing. Now, it has reached the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 which is built on inter-connectivity. Smart manufacturing systems play an integral role in moving towards Industry 4.0. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the technologies which supports and contributes to smart manufacturing and to understand its characteristics. Because of the benefits of smart manufacturing, it has attracted various professionals to apply smart manufacturing in their own fields. In this chapter, the applications of smart manufacturing are presented especially in industrial and mechanical engineering. The challenges faced by the industry while implementing smart manufacturing systems has also been mentioned