The manufacturing industry, which is vital to all economies, is being challenged to improve its efficiency across the product life cycle and the value chain. The critical aspect of “smartness” is enabled by advanced data analytics for understanding, prediction, and control of manufacturing systems across the product lifecycle (design analytics, production analytics, and use and post-use analytics) and to the extended networked enterprises. Continuous improvements in sensor technologies, data acquisition systems, and data mining and data analytics allow the manufacturing industry to effectively and efficiently collect large, rapid, and diverse volumes of data and get valuable insights from this data.

A good understanding and use of sensors and networking hardware (collectively called the Internet of Things or IoT) is essential for maximizing the benefits of data analytics in the manufacturing industry. This symposium intends to provide a platform for researchers and industry practitioners from manufacturing, information science, and data science disciplines to share their data mining and data-analytics-related research results, and practical design or development experiences in the manufacturing industry. It will foster collaboration among academia, industry, and governmental organizations to help improve manufacturing efficiency, product quality, and sustainability in small and large manufacturing industries. This year, we focus on the technical challenges and opportunities for implementing IoT for manufacturing.