Reconfigurable Digitalized and Servitized Production Systems: Requirements and Challenges

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) emerged in literature during the last two decades with the aim to respond to the rapid increase in product demand and variations. The implementation of such solutions in the industry is very recent and remains difficult. In this article, an analysis of the industrial requirements and challenges involving four key aspects of RDSS (reconfigurability, digitalization, servitization and sustainability) is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives from the industry. Further, the identified requirements and challenges are compared to those extracted from an extensive literature review. The findings of the comparison are divided into technology and organization oriented issues and show a strong interconnection of the four key aspects: Digitalization offers possibilities for the implementation of sustainable systems, servitization creates the possibility for companies to achieve more flexibility through reconfigurable systems and the further development of RMS offers more possibilities for digitalization and thus a better adaptation to current requirements.