Perceived Software Engineering Challenges Facing the Truck Manufacturing Industry in the 5G Era - thesis project
A fourth wave of technological advancement known as Industry 4.0 is dawning upon us. Blurring the boundaries between the physical and the virtual worlds, Industry 4.0 will create smart factories that have many beneficial outcomes in terms of productivity, efficiency, flexibility, and profitability. Be that as it may, Industry 4.0 needs 5G to enable all its promises. The role of Software Engineering is indisputable in Industry 4.0. Given that the manufacturing industry is undergoing a major technological shift with the introduction of 5G, it is necessary to investigate whether manufacturers need to change their current Software Engineering practices in order to successfully adopt Industry 4.0 in the 5G era.
This study aimed to identify challenges that a truck manufacturer may face during the implementation of a 5G-enabled Industry 4.0 use case given their current practices. It also aimed to examine whether the identified challenges puts the case company in such a position that it needs to introduce new practices in order to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by said use case.
A qualitative exploratory case study was conducted in which interviews constituted data collection. Literature also played a central role: Industry 4.0 challenges that were identified in related work helped determine if the challenges identified in this study were unique enough to require further research and new solutions.
This study found that Industry 4.0 projects in the 5G era will be multi-vendor projects that have strict requirements on system robustness, interoperability, and security. This will reportedly be challenging for the truck manufacturer in question to achieve in view of their current practices and technologies. These challenges do not differ significantly from Industry 4.0 projects unrelated to 5G, meaning that not many of the challenges identified in this study were unique enough to require further research and new solutions. Still, this study compiled Software Engineering guidelines for adopting elements of Industry 4.0 in the 5G era as painlessly as possible.
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