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Advanced digitalization techniques combined with artificial intelligence and automated robotic systems have created “Smart” organizations resulting in a new revolution in the industrial production systems as Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The research is aimed to do a meticulous scanning of internal and external environment pertaining to I4.0 implementation in the manufacturing industry in India.

A survey was conducted among the manufacturing managers and information technology professionals about the factors affecting I4.0 application, and 20 such internal and external factors were identified. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were executed for factor analysis, and four dimensions in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) factors were determined from the variables. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology was then applied.

Results show that increased productivity and efficiency appeared to be the biggest strength of I4.0 while the biggest weakness is the need for specialized training and skills. The biggest opportunity is found to be increasing trust of customers in Internet transactions and employee resistance to adopting new technologies turned out to be the biggest threat.

Organizations will be able to evaluate the strengths, work upon weakness, exploit the opportunities and protect against external challenges and threats beforehand while implementing I4.0 technologies.

The four dimensions in terms of SWOT pertaining to manufacturing industry have been identified by collecting original data from the manufacturing industry, and AHP and CFA were then carried out to prioritize and verify them.

This paper aims to describe the obtainment of Ti-6Al-4V parts with a hierarchical arrangement of pores by additive manufacturing, aiming at designing orthopedic implants.

The experimental methodology compares microstructural and mechanical properties of Menger pre-fractal sponges of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and electron beam powder bed fusion (EBPBF), with three different porosity volumes. The pore arrangement followed the formation sequence of the Menger sponge, with hierarchical order from 1 to 3.

The LPBF parts presented a martensitic microstructure, while the EBPBF parts presented an α + ß microstructure, independently of its wall thickness. The LPBF parts presented higher mechanical resistance and effective stiffness than the EBPBF parts with similar porosity volume. The stiffness values of the Menger pre-fractal sponges of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, between 4 and 29 GPa, are comparable to those of the cortical bone. Furthermore, the deformation behavior presented by the Menger pre-fractal sponges of Ti-6Al-4V alloy did not follow the Gibson and Ashby model's prediction.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to obtain Menger pre-fractal sponges of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by LPBF and EBPBF. The deformation behavior of the obtained porous parts was contrasted with the Gibson and Ashby model's prediction.