Special issue on Smart and Resilient Manufacturing in the Wake of COVID-19

In 2020, manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges with the COVID-19 outbreak, which severely disrupts manufacturing operations around the world. Over the past few weeks/months, some manufacturers have shifted gears to help address dire shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Others are thrown into deep unknowns and faced with a grim prospect of being closed down. Large manufacturers such as GM and Ford rejigged parts of their production lines to mass produce ventilators and/or respirators. Changing a factory layout to produce a new line of products is no mean feat; it takes time and costs money.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers looked at the integration and interaction matters among the physical, digital, and human world. However, social-distancing directives, which are likely to continue in some form after the crisis subsides, could prompt more industries to accelerate their use of automation. The unease about having machines control a manufacturing system could dissipate as society sees the benefits of restructuring manufacturing systems in ways that minimize close human contact.

This special issue focuses on the technology aspects of a manufacturing system that will help weather the pandemic as we have today and make them nimble and resilient in any alike event. The topics are, but not limited to

• Success case studies of manufacturing firms in the COVID-19 pandemic
• Case studies in the design and deployment of a nimble manufacturing system
• Horizontal and vertical integration for resilient manufacturing
• Flexible, reconfigurable and adaptable production systems
• Manufacturing systems coping with uncertainties in demands and disruptions in global supply chains
• Cyber-physical social production systems
• Digitalisation, Big Data analytics for resilient manufacturing
• Additive and rapid manufacturing as a resilient manufacturing method
• Innovative adaption of human-machine interface and communication technologies
• Workforce re-training, re-skilling and re-deployment for manufacturers

Submission Guidelines

Only original manuscripts can be submitted, according to the ‘Guide for Authors’ published on the Journal of Manufacturing Systems website https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-manufacturing-systems. As regards the online submission system of Journal of Manufacturing Systems, the authors are invited to follow the link “Submit your Paper”, located in the main page of the Journal website, and submit manuscript to Article Type “SI: COVID-19 & Manufacturing” in Journal of Manufacturing Systems.

Please mention the name of the Special Issue in your cover letter. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the established policies and procedures of the journal. The final papers will be selected for publication depending on the results of the peer review process and the reviews of the Guest Editors.

Guest Editors

Prof. Xun Xu -- The University of Auckland, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Email: x.xu@auckland.ac.nz

Prof. Lihui Wang -- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Production Engineering
Email: lihuiw@kth.se

Prof. Livan Fratini -- Università di Palermo, Dipartimento di Innovazione Industriale e Digitale
Email: livan.fratini@unipa.it

Prof. Ihab Ragai -- Penn State University, School of Engineering
Email: ihab.ragai@psu.edu

Prof. Andrew Yeh Ching Nee -- National University of Singapore, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Email: mpeneeyc@nus.edu.sg

Important Dates:

Submission opening on 1st September 2020
Submission closing on 30th November 2020