When digital sensors and telemetry analysis (big data, machine learning) were applied to the manufacturing process itself, Industry 4.0--the fourth industrial revolution--was born (or, more precisely, christened). Automated cyber-physical factories, including those biomass factories we call “farms,” are the new wave in manufacturing. Companies and countries around the globe are retooling and re-engineering their manufacturing processes in order to take advantage of the speed and power of real-time digital analysis.

Twenty-seven scientific papers from Europe and America have been selected for this interdisciplinary review. I can’t list every paper, but knowing their taxonomy is useful. They are divided into seven groups:

(1) “Introduction and Overview”: three papers

(2) “Modeling for CPS [Cyber-Physical Systems] and CMS [Cyber-Manufacturing Systems]”: four papers

(3) “Architectural Design Patterns for CMS and IIoT [Industrial Internet of Things]”: four papers

(4) “Communication and Networking”: two papers

(5) “Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics for Manufacturing”: nine papers

(6) “Evolution of Workforce and Human-Machine Interaction”: three papers

(7) “Adjacent Fields and Ecosystems”: four papers

Every manufacturing systems architect and designer should consult this collection. The survey papers summarize what is already working, and the research papers highlight what’s next. There’s no reason to be left in the dark, or waste time reinventing the wheel, when this much information has already been curated for you.