Editorial for the special issue on manufacturing technology for modern factories

This special issue contains 10 extended papers presented in the 8th and the 9th Multi-International Conference on Engineering and Technology Innovation (IMETI), held in Taiwan in 2019 and 2020, respectively. These articles present the recent advances in artificial intelligence, mechatronics, smart manufacturing, advanced robotic, and some important topics in modern factories. Artificial intelligence technologies such as Expert systems, Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy Theory, and Heuristically Search are profoundly changing the machinery industry in countries around the world. Artificial intelligence is applied to all aspects of the machinery industry, such as product design, process determination, production management, fault diagnosis, etc. Manufacturing is the cornerstone of a factory, and enters a new era along with the development of artificial intelligence. To promote the development of modern factory, artificial intelligence will play a strong supporting role. In recent years, artificial intelligence technology has become a research hotspot of manufacturing and industry, and has received extensive attention from academic and industrial circles at home and abroad. However, the research on artificial intelligence in the field of machinery is still at a preliminary stage. How to use artificial intelligence to build an efficient and intelligent manufacturing system, still faces many scientific challenges and technical problems. This special issue is devoted to promoting academic exchanges and advanced research progress of artificial intelligence in the field of the modern factory. It is expected this issue will inspire the authors and broader the manufacturing community to continue their contribution to the modern and future industry. It is my great pleasure and honor to organize this Special Issue in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture. Also, we would like to express my deepest thanks to the reviewers for taking their time to comment on the papers. Moreover, We would like to thank all the authors who have contributed their original works to this issue. Lastly, special thanks must be extended to the Editor in Chief/Prof. P. G. Maropoulos and the production team of the journal, for their kind and professional support to the publication of this Special Issue.