The fourth industrial revolution is the transformation of industrial manufacturing into smart manufacturing. The advancement of digital technologies that make the trend Industry 4.0 are considered as the transforming force that will enable this transformation. However, Industry 4.0 digital technologies need to be connected, integrated and used effectively to create value and to provide insightful information for data driven manufacturing. Smart manufacturing is a journey and requires a roadmap to guide manufacturing organizations for its adoption. The objective of this paper is to review different methodologies and strategies for smart manufacturing implementation to propose a simple and a holistic roadmap that will support the transition into smart factories and achieve resilience, flexibility and sustainability. A comprehensive review of academic and industrial literature was preformed based on multiple stage approach and chosen criteria to establish existing knowledge in the field and to evaluate latest trends and ideas of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing technologies, techniques and applications in the manufacturing industry. These criteria are sub-grouped to fit within various stages of the proposed roadmap and attempts to bridge the gap between academia and industry and contributes to a new knowledge in the literature. This paper presents a conceptual approach based on six stages. In each stage, key enabling technologies and strategies are introduced, the common challenges, implementation tips and case studies of industrial applications are discussed to potentially assist in a successful adoption. The significance of the proposed roadmap serve as a strategic practical tool for rapid adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies for smart manufacturing and to bridge the gap between the advanced technologies and their application in manufacturing industry, especially for SMEs.

The transportation of construction waste involves various complexities, including logistics, monitoring, and resource management. Nevertheless, conventional transportation methods struggle to meet the combined requirements of environmental sustainability and efficiency in modern urban development due to problems such as high idle rates and insufficient management. The swift advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technology offers an innovative solution for the intelligent and effective management of construction waste transportation in response to these issues. This study explores how IoT technology can enhance construction waste transportation management by developing an evaluation framework using the Delphi method, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). This research focuses on the application of IoT to optimize the transportation and logistics process through real-time monitoring and data analysis. The capability of IoT technology to analyze real-time data facilitates the modification of routes to minimize empty mileage and transportation time, thus improving transport efficiency. Ultimately, the potential and challenges of IoT in construction waste transportation management have been discussed.

This paper reports on the feasibility of using a novel and robust microwave sensing technique to analyse and detect silver materials in an aqueous solution. Two products are tested, namely: silver chloride and silver oxide. The study mainly focused on indicating the difference between them and also any change in the size/size distribution of the sample. A microwave sensor designed previously is utilised to identify the potential of the technique to carry out the analysis. The results are presented as microwave spectrums that are the material response to microwaves. The results have shown that the technique has reasonably indicated the change in material type as well as size distribution. The results also show that these curves are distinguishable and can be related to the material and the change in its size. It is concluded that there is a potential of extending this technique to determine various other properties of silver products. The study suggests a design and development of a bespoke unit as a dedicated analysis tool and to address any anomalies arising from the current feasibility. This will have a huge industrial benefit in terms of cost reduction and time associated with the industrial analysis of silver material.

Recently, Lidl had to set a recall action due to dangerous pieces of plastic found in the cheese products. The plastic shards, if swallowed, can cut the oral cavity or obstruct breathing. Current inspection techniques in the cheese industry are for the detection of metals using X-ray that does not offer a complete solution, as many foreign bodies can go undetected. This paper demonstrates the use of a portable real-time microwave sensing technique for the nondestructive detection of plastic in cheese. The electromagnetic (EM) patch antenna was designed and tested on five Cheddar cheese samples. Different sizes of plastic shards, 1 × 10 mm, 2 × 15 mm and 5 × 20 mm, were inserted into the samples, and measurements were taken with and without foreign objects. The initial results demonstrated that the patch antenna at 4GHz was able to detect and classify Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) shards with an R² = 0.95. The initial results are promising, and further investigation will be undertaken to detect different shapes and types of foreign objects in food products.