Graduation Intelligent Manufacturing System (GiMS) : an Industry 4.0 paradigm for production and operations management

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an intelligent manufacturing system for transforming production management and operations to an Industry 4.0 manufacturing paradigm. Design/methodology/approach: A manufacturing mode-Graduation Manufacturing System is designed for organizing and controlling production operations. An Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and digital twin-enabled Graduation Intelligent Manufacturing System (GiMS) with real-time task allocation and execution mechanisms is proposed to achieve real-time information sharing and production planning, scheduling, execution and control with reduced complexity and uncertainty. Findings: The implementation of GiMS in an industrial company illustrates the potential advantages for real-time production planning, scheduling, execution and control with reduced complexity and uncertainty. For production managers and onsite operators, effective tools, such as cloud services integrates effective production and operations management strategies are needed to facilitate their decision-making and daily operations at the operational level. Originality/value: This paper presents an Industry 4.0 paradigm-GiMS, which aims to explore Industry 4.0 technologies opportunities on operations and production management, especially on production planning, scheduling, execution and control.