‘Factory in a box’ anticipates changing manufacturing needs

The group, which started working on the concept in the summer of 2017, aimed to build a single electronics manufacturing line using cargo containers that can be moved to locations as demand dictates.
A collaboration was driven by the expected changes in manufacturing sparked by Industry 4.0, including cloud-based solutions, robotics, and new electronic manufacturing IoT solutions, all of which will demand greater agility and flexibility from manufacturers.
In late 2017, the project took a step forward at Nokia’s Digital Creativity Lab opening in Munich, where a cargo container with a collaborative robot assembly station was packed, moved to a new location by truck, then restarted within hours at the new location where small Lego cars were assembled, proving the precision of the machines.
The final step in the proof of concept was achieved on February 9, 2018, when full electronic manufacturing of a printed circuit board and robotic assembly and testing took place.