Crowd wisdom drives intelligent manufacturing

Abstract

Purpose A fundamental problem for intelligent manufacturing is to equip the agents with the ability to automatically make judgments and decisions. This paper aims to introduce the basic principle for intelligent crowds in an attempt to show that crowd wisdom could help in making accurate judgments and proper decisions. This further shows the positive effects that crowd wisdom could bring to the entire manufacturing process. Design/methodology/approach Efforts to support the critical role of crowd wisdom in intelligent manufacturing involve theoretical explanation, including a discussion of several prevailing concepts, such as consumer-to-business (C2B), crowdfunding and an interpretation of the contemporary Big Data mania. In addition, an empirical study with three business cases was conducted to prove the conclusion that our ideas could well explain the current business phenomena and guide the future of manufacturing. Findings This paper shows that crowd wisdom could help make accurate judgments and proper decisions. It further shows the positive effects that crowd wisdom could bring to the entire manufacturing process. Originality/value The paper highlights the importance of crowd wisdom in manufacturing with sufficient theoretical and empirical analysis, potentially providing a guideline for future industry.