Dear Colleagues,

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) topics are directly related to the concept of "Smart Factory", outlining a new vision in which the traditional factory evolves into a fully automated, digitized, flexible and connected system capable of learning and adapting to new scenarios.

The rapid developments of modern I4.0 technologies related both to information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), such as artificial intelligence (AI), additive manufacturing (AM), augmented reality (AR), digital twin (DT), Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, etc., have led to the conception of a more modern production plant, in which the various systems can interact and communicate with each other to support real-time decision-making with effective and reliable responses.

The impact of I4.0 exceeds the frontiers of industrial production and can affect all industrial sectors.

The enabling technologies of I4.0 can effectively contribute to the digital transformation of an organization with the goal of sustainable development.

Furthermore, I4.0 not only revolutionizes the idea of factory as a whole, but it can also have a decisive impact on the way in which products and services are designed. In these terms, it is possible to introduce the concept of "fourth design revolution", i.e., a new way of developing the design of smart and connected products that allows for continuous interaction between the designer and product.

This Special Issue focuses on all aspects of scientific and technological progress related to the advanced design and manufacturing processes in all industrial fields, promoting I4.0 and sustainability principles.

Advanced research studies, models, methodologies, case studies, best practices and literature reviews that are focused on these aspects are welcome.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Numerical simulation methods and computational modeling techniques and their use in a smart product design;
• Modern manufacturing techniques in the Industry 4.0 era;
• Advanced tools for the analysis and mechanical design;
• Efficient and flexible product design and manufacturing strategies;
• Traditional and innovative materials in the smart design concepts;
• Engineering of industrial products and their life cycle;
• Industry 4.0 and sustainable production.

Dr. Giuseppe Marannano
Guest Editor

Detailed information can be found at:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Design_Manufacturing_Industry

BENEFITS OF PUBLISHING WITH APPLIED SCIENCES:

• Open access (unlimited and free access for readers).
• Indexed by the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science) [search for “Applied Sciences-Basel”], Scopus, Inspec (IET) and other databases. The 2019 Impact Factor has increased to 2.474 from 2.217.
• Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 14.1 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 2.7 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the second half of 2020).

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/instructions

Note that the Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). 

There are a few discounts / free waivers available for the Special Issue, if you would like to apply for a discount for your manuscript, please feel free to contact us and Joy Chen <joy.chen@mdpi.com>, the assistant editor of this Special Issue.