Industry 4.0 isn't anything new for the manufacturing engineers at Glidewell. The Newport, CA-based manufacturer of crowns, bridges and other dental products has been applying the concept since before it had a name.

Schneider Electric's factory in Lexington, KY, has been mass-producing electrical equipment for more than 60 years. But, the low-mix, high-volume assembly plant is not sitting back and living in the past. Instead, it has become a state-of-the-art showcase for the future of digital manufacturing.

Nobody's perfect. Even the best trained, most experienced assemblers can make mistakes on the line, especially in high-mix production environments. Fortunately, a variety of software products are available to help prevent assembly errors.

Manufacturing execution systems (MES) have been around for quite a while, and there are hundreds of choices out there.