-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueWhat's Your Sweet Spot?
Are you in a niche that’s growing or shrinking? Is it time to reassess and refocus? We spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche. What are their insights?
Moving Forward With Confidence
In this issue, we focus on sales and quoting, workforce training, new IPC leadership in the U.S. and Canada, the effects of tariffs, CFX standards, and much more—all designed to provide perspective as you move through the cloud bank of today's shifting economic market.
Intelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
The Smart Factory IQ Test
March 13, 2019 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Let's see how prepared you are to talk about Industry 4.0. The following 12-question test will measure how much you know about smart factory concepts and philosophies[1]. Since the concept of a smart factory is larger than the electronics manufacturing industry and encompasses the entire supply chain, the terms and concepts here are also more global in nature.
Questions
1. To realize the digital supply network needed for smart factories, manufacturers must:
a. Introduce horizontal integration through multiple organizational systems
b. Implement vertical integration through manufacturing
c. Integrate throughout the entire value chain
d. All of the above
2. True or False: A smart factory implementation relies on shop floor automation exclusively.
3. True or False: The ability to adjust to and learn from data in real time can make the smart factory more responsive, proactive, and predictive, and enables the organization to avoid operational downtime and other productivity challenges.
4. In a proactive smart factory system, employees and systems can anticipate and act before issues arise, rather than reacting to them after they occur. Which feature is NOT a factor in delivering a proactive smart factory system:
a. Identifying anomalies, restocking, and replenishing
b. Destructive process testing
c. Predictively addressing quality issues
d. Monitoring safety and maintenance concerns
5. True or False: AI, cognitive computing, and machine learning have made it possible for smart factories to override human operator decisions on the shop floor.
6. Which of the following factors makes this the right time for smart factory implementations?
a. Manufacturing has grown increasingly global, fragmenting production and spreading it across multiple geographies
b. Smart, digital technologies have ushered in a new set of competitors who leverage the digitization to enter new markets
c. IT is beginning to take data from automation and turn it into insight and action
d. Skilled talent shortages are forcing manufacturers to mitigate risk and reconfigure staffing to do more with fewer staff
e. A and C
f. B and D
g. All of the above
7. Undertaking a smart factory journey can address a number of business practices. Which is NOT one of those practices:
a. Asset efficiency
b. Sustainability
c. Improved company picnics
d. Better profitability
e. Labor force stability
8. True or False: Smart factory automation achieves agile operation with off-the-shelf automation and control systems industry-wide.
9. Industry 4.0 includes which of the following digital and physical technologies:
a. Analytics
b. Web browsers
c. Robotics
d. High-performance computing
e. Augmented reality
f. AI and cognitive technologies
g. Buggy whips
h. Advanced materials
10. True or False: Organizational change management will be a simple, matter-of-fact affair since smart factories will result in a net loss of manufacturing jobs.
11. True or False: Cybersecurity becomes a greater concern precisely because a smart factory is highly connected.
12. True or False: The most effective way to implement a smart factory is to start with a greenfield ground-up/build-out.
This quiz is published in the March 2019 issue of PCB007 Magazine. To find out the answers to the questions, click here.
Suggested Items
Zollner Completes Full Acquisition of Bluechips Microhouse
07/01/2025 | Zollner Elektronik AGZollner Elektronik AG has successfully finalized its com- plete takeover of Bluechips Microhouse Co., Ltd., in Thailand. In the future the company will operate as part of the Zollner Group of companies under the leadership of Thomas Kiefl – strategically networked, technologically focused and internationally oriented.
Inission Acquires the Lithuanian Company Selteka
07/01/2025 | InissionInission AB has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of UAB Selteka. Selteka is a well-respected EMS (electronics manufacturing services) company with operations located in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Kitron Strengthens Order Backlog with EUR 11 Million Contract for Defense Communication
07/01/2025 | KitronKitron has received an order valued at EUR 11 million to produce advanced military communication products destined for the European market.
IMI Wins Gold Award for Best Managed Technology Company at FinanceAsia’s 29th Asia’s Best Companies Awards
07/01/2025 | IMIIntegrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) has been awarded the prestigious Gold Award for Best Managed Technology Company at the 29th edition of the Asia’s Best Companies Awards, hosted by FinanceAsia.
Compal Announces Completion of New Automotive Electronics Facility in Poland, Signaling Strategic Growth in Europe
06/30/2025 | Compal Electronics Inc.Compal Electronics is proud to announce the completion of Phase One of its new manufacturing facility in Czeladź, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, marking a major milestone in its strategic expansion into the European automotive electronics market.