Integrated manufacturing technology laboratory

The integrated manufacturing technology (IMT) laboratory is a future factory facility currently being built in the department of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The main goal of the IMT laboratory is to facilitate teaching and research on the integration of future factory concepts, cutting edge technologies of shop floor automation, and organizational information systems. This will be achieved through the integration of main IEM disciplines, such as intelligent automation, production planning, information systems, and human factors. The laboratory will be constructed to produce physical products, and the main production process will be an assembly process. Digital factory methods will be employed in shop floor control. Human factor methodologies will be employed for designing station controller interfaces and the monitoring screens of the laboratory control center. Green manufacturing concepts and product sustainability considerations will also be demonstrated. The objective of this paper is to describe the key challenges and the main implications for education and research of designing and building such a state-of-the-art integrated manufacturing laboratory.