A study on manufacturing services utilizing a compact production set-up

The Microfactory developed by AIST is the origin of modern compact and distributed production set-up, which ensure a flexible combination of different manufacturing tasks. Since its introduction 13 years ago, various machine tools to satisfy the different tasks covered by the Microfactory have been developed. However, practical business ideas utilizing Microfactory features are insufficient. The paper first briefly describes the design of the Microfatory. Then, identifies relevant services considering it´s flexible, on-site and safety properties. It can also enhance the energy and the resource efficiency of the manufacturing industries. In order to get ideas of manufacturing services, the paper analyzes the lifecycle phases of IPS² with corresponding features. Finally, the paper concludes that manufacturing services featuring the Microfactory is one of the promising areas in future production.