Have you heard this new term called “Dark Factory”? Its interesting to see how our factories evolved.

1. What is a Dark Factory? A dark factory is a concept from the field of Industry 4.0 where the manufacturing process is entirely automated, with no need for human labor. In such a factory, machinery can run in the dark, without any environmental conditions needed to support a workforce, hence the term ‘dark factory’.
2. Co-botics as an Alternative: A variation on the dark factory model involves the use of co-botics – collaborative robots that assist human workers in their tasks. These co-bots can operate autonomously but still require some level of human intervention for maintenance and oversight.
3. Dark Factories as Smart Factories: In the context of a dark factory, all manufacturing procedures, such as processing, handling, testing, packing, and shipping, are automated by industrial machinery. This reduces the need for manual labor, potentially lowers production costs, and improves efficiency.
4. Use of Advanced Technology in Dark Factories: Some businesses are currently leveraging advanced technology, such as autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), in their factories. AGVs operate on pre-programmed routes and tasks, furthering the degree of automation in the factory.
5. Features of Dark Factories: The main features of a dark factory include autonomy, visual technology practice, self-structuring capabilities, and self-learning and maintenance capabilities. Each unit in the system can construct the optimal system structure based on work tasks independently, and faults can be diagnosed and eliminated automatically, or the correct system can be notified.