ScalABLE 4.0 investigated how manufacturing lines can adapt their level of automation to changing products and production demand. Its goal was an open, scalable production-system framework that supports the planning, operation, maintenance and optimisation of flexible production lines.

The framework connects enterprise information systems with adaptable automation equipment through open APIs. Visualisation and virtual models of the production line support decisions about how to configure and use manufacturing resources, while integration across the factory enables monitoring and control during operation.

By connecting robotics, production information and factory-level decision making, the project aimed to make production systems easier to reconfigure and optimise as requirements change.

Volker Krueger was the PI representing Robotics and Semantic Systems (RSS).