ABSTRACT
Smart factory concept is based on the principle of convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) resulting in a flexible system that can self-optimize performance, self-adapt to learn from new conditions in real time and autonomously run the various functional activities. The basic characteristics of smart factory are connection, optimization, transparency, proactivity and agility. These requirement can be met by the various tools of Industry 4.0 and by practicing management concepts like JIT and LEAN. The smart factory concept can be applied to Wind Turbine Generator (WTG), which basically act as a factory producing electricity using the kinetic energy of the wind as the input. The basic operations of sensing and actuation are taken care by IoT and IIoT; connectivity is established using various types of networking features of Industry 4.0; AI and Machine learning are used to study, analyse and predict the health conditions of the components, which helps to take proactive action and avoid unexpected failure. Since all the components are made to communicate with each other, the entire process is agile and smart. The overall benefits achieved are reduction of cost, increase in efficiency, improvement quality, improved predictability and improved safety and increase in customer satisfaction.
