The evolution of production systems from Industry 2.0 through Industry 4.0

This paper discusses production systems with a focus on the relationships between product supply and customer demand in the context of Industry 2.0–4.0. One driver of production evolution is changes in customer demand over time, which is categorised into several dimensions. Major production systems – flow line, Toyota production system (TPS), job shop, cell, flexible manufacturing system and seru – have been developed and applied to supplies to match different demand dimensions over time. For each production system, two questions are addressed: what and how. Comparisons between seru with TPS and cell are given. The possibilities of a future smart factory equipped with internet of things are discussed. The demand dimensions of Industry 4.0, the product architecture change in the automobile industry and the impact of 3D printing are elaborated. Potential applications of lean and seru principles for Industry 4.0 are presented.