Intelligent Manufacturing and Manufacturing Intelligence

Manufacturing is a prime generator of wealth and is critical in establishing a sound basis for economic growth. Manufacturing is also the cornerstone of all economic activities, and efforts to continuously advance manufacturing technology are therefore vital to a richer and more stable future. Intelligent Manufacturing (IM), believed to be the next generation advanced manufacturing paradigm is extensively investigated by industry and academia. In this chapter, we firstly recall the course of manufacturing development and summarize the characteristics of the four revolutions in this course. Subsequently, the broad sense of ‘manufacturing’ is articulated and the characteristics of manufacturing activities in the operation of manufacturing processes are depicted. The differences and relationships between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Manufacturing Intelligence (MI) are then presented. The background of intelligent manufacturing, the attributes of intelligent manufacturing technology and the future development of intelligent manufacturing system are described. Lastly, a summary of this chapter is given.