This paper focuses on the implementation of principles of Industry 4.0 concept to ceramic industry. The topic of this paper is to address the problematics of the implementation of processes and elements of digitization within the Industry 4.0 concept into ceramic industry. Firstly, thorough literature and bestpractice research will be discussed. Based on the state of current knowledge, concept of the Industry 4.0 Readiness Model for Refractory will be presented. The model’s main focus is on the readiness of current business structures, processes and technical and economical situation. It will provide necessary analysis and insight into potential company’s processes and background. Based on this analysis, it will be possible to define the main obstacles for future digitalization and automation within Industry 4.0 concept in Refractory industry. On the foundation of data obtained by Industry 4.0 Readiness Model for Refractory, it will be possible to implement the Industry 4.0 solutions with highest added value to specific company, based on its current state. The main purpose of this paper is to summarize and discuss key parameters and framework for Industry 4.0 Readiness Model for Refractory and its connection to future implementation of Industry 4.0 features within ceramic industry.

This article deals with automation of dimensional control on Coordinate Measuring Machine using a collaborative robot. Thanks to the dimensional control automation, it is possible to save staff capacity as well as to increase the repeatability and productivity of component measurement in series production. Within the design and implementation of the workplace, the subject of inspection was chosen. Necessary equipment of workplace and variants of workplace layout were designed for the inspected part. The part of workplace realization was also to create a robot program to fully automate the process, including product placement and placement after component inspection, depending on the measurement result. The result of the project was an automated inspection of components, which could be implemented with minimal modifications to the real manufacturing system.

Main goal of this study is to describe and design manufacturing system which is using Additive manufacturing technology for production of semi-finished products and conventional machining technology for finishing operations, then demonstrate requirements of such production on simulation model on production planning and then analyze and summarize the outputs of the production model. The model is made with aid of modern Digital Factory tools. The main purpose of the model is to provide a complex tool for this study in order to analyze and optimize the fictive production system in needed range and complexity. The topic of Rapid Prototyping and Additive manufacturing technologies is very recent topic in industry. But still, there are only few examples of production systems, which are really using Rapid Prototyping technologies as a part of the production or production line. The advantage of these technologies is their versatility, but on the other hand, as a part of production system, they can have different demands on for example production planning, area consumption or maintenance, that can affect whole production system.

The aim of the paper is to describe the design of the manipulation system for the raw ceramic chimney pipe raw blank to avoid deformation of the pipe during handling and to increase the productivity of the manufacturing process. The process of manufacturing of a ceramic chimney pipe begins with extrusion of the raw refractory material. The extruded semi-finished product is then processed and then transferred by hand to a kiln car on which it is dried and fired. It is this manipulation that heavily contributes in the deformation of the fired chimney pipes. Due to the low stiffness of the raw ceramic chimney pipe, deformation occurs by manual handling. In order to avoid these deformations, it is necessary to design a suitable concept and construction solution of the manipulation system. Due to the nature of the chimney pipe, the automation of manipulation is rather difficult. The pipe is very soft in the raw state, its surface is rough, wet and greasy. This paper deals with the design of an optimal solution for the manipulation of ceramic chimney pipes, which will prevent the chimney pipe from deforming, negatively affecting its quality and making it possible to increase the productivity of ceramic chimney pipes production.

As a result of globalization the aspects of raising productivity and speed of production with extreme requests on the flexibility of the production systems are gaining importance. These aspects of production are affected by type of product and production and mainly by the capability of companies to correctly manage the manufacturing process. Manufacturing process is globally quicker than it was and the areas of logistics and production planning are still gaining more importance. Gradual changes are also in complexity of production. Without modern tools for production planning it would be very hard to manage production effectively. These tools are part of digital factory concept. Because of those tools the effective planning of production and utilizing the production facilities capacity to its fullest is possible. This paper describes development and implementation of the digital factory concept and its tools in our partner company and is built on previous paper dedicated to common implementation principles of digital factory tools. The main goal of digital factory implementation was optimization of the Tricanter production planning process, elimination of bottle-necks of production system and optimization of manufacturing facilities capacities utilization.