Smart manufacturing with the Internet of makers

By using sensors and analyzing data, smart manufacturing (SM) increases production efficiency in factories. Traditional research focuses on the use of SM in large companies. This study proposes a novel SM platform that can be used by small enterprises and startups. Instead of a sensor network, this platform is enabled by the Internet of makers (IoM). Five business cases about using platform are discussed. In the past three years, the progress of the five different products has been recorded. The results show that the SM platform enabled by IoM decreases costs by sharing design and manufacturing status between companies and makers. About 20~90% of the manpower cost for product development can be saved and the time to market is reduced by around 50%. Small companies can also grow their business using SM by demonstrating the product on social media. In terms of industrial applications, the IoM 4.0 that is developed in this study can be used as the core of cyber physical systems (CPS) to achieve SM. Smart goals that are achieved by the five case studies are discussed in detail and the profile of the development of IoM 4.0 for small business and start-up companies is outlined.