Abstract
Purpose Recently, much attention in building smart factory has dramatically increased with an emergence of the Industry 4.0. As we noted a connectivity gap between main concerns of MIS and the automated manufacturing systems such as POP and MES, it is recommended that CPS (Cyber-Physical System) can be an important building block for the smart factory and enrich the depth of MIS knowledge. Therefore, first, this study attempted to identify the connectivity gap between the traditional field of MIS (ERP, SCM, CRM, etc.) and the automated manufacturing systems, and then recommended CPS as a technical bridge to fill the gap. Secondly, we studied concepts and research trend of CPS that is believed to be a virtual mechanism to manage manufacturing systems in an integrated manner. Finally, we suggested research and educational opportunities in MIS based on the CPS perspectives. Design/methodology/approach Since this paper introduced relatively new idea of CPS originally discussed in the field of engineering, traditional MIS research method such as survey and experiment may not fit well. Therefore this research collected technical cases through literature survey in engineering fields, video clips from Youtube, and field references from various ICT Exhibitions and Conventions. Then we analyzed and reorganized them to highlight the necessity of CPS and draw some insight to share with MIS academia. Findings This paper introduced CPS to bridge the connectivity gap between the traditional MIS and automated manufacturing system (smart factory), a concern far away from the MIS academia. Further, this paper suggested future research subjects of MIS such as developing software to share big production data and systems to support manufacturing decisions, and innovating MIS curricula including smart and intelligent manufacturing technology within the context of traditional enterprise systems.