ABSTRACT
Our daily life depends more and more on the advantages of information and communication technologies. Information and communication is available anywhere, anytime with any content for any user using any device and any access. No doubt, we are entering the era of ubiquitous computing where computers are becoming smaller, more powerful, invisible and permanently networked. But in our factories the old traditions are still hold: a lot of paperwork, many cables and traditional interaction devices. But as modern ICT technologies are penetrating our homes and lives they will penetrate our factories in future as well. In 2004, a group of German companies and researchers met to discuss the impact of these technologies on future factories. As a result the idea of the smart factory was conceived and made reality. The factory built in 2006 is based on a real production setting in a downsized but representative factory environment. Such a large-scale, real-life production process is the perfect testbed for new methods, concepts and technologies in and for the industrial field. This paper will present the changes and challenges we are facing in future human machine systems and will deduce the technologies and design paradigms from the gathered experiences.
