Extending the scope of reference models for smart factories.

Abstract Industry 4.0 (I4.0), Smart Manufacturing, Industrial Internet, Intelligent Manufacturing, and so forth, are different designations for different initiatives, all contributing to the digital transformation of the industrial ecosystem. Besides several reference models/architectures have been developed, a framework to structure and understand the implications and to identify I4.0 action fields is still needed. A harmonized model would allow guiding the developments on how to organizationally prepare for the change. This paper attempts to clarify the implications and action fields of the I4.0, trying to reveal its mostly alleged dimensions and the main planes in which they intervene in the industrial ecosystem. Through the analysis of the most relevant architectures for I4.0, IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and the consequent awareness of which components are missing, the paper proposes a framework for digital factories towards smart cities that stresses the expansion of the I4.0 horizontal integration into human, cities infrastructural, and societal dimensions.