SprottSchool of BusinessObserve the operation
Define the physical event, stakeholder, pain, performance measure, and decision that needs better information.
Begin with the operating problem.BUSI 4331 · undergraduate seminar
Industry 4.0 Technologiesand Management
Connect physical operations, data and artificial intelligence to a business decision worth improving.
Across thirteen classes, you will learn the technology chain, test it in operating contexts, build its business case, and defend one integrated Industry 4.0 proposal.
One project. Three checkpoints. One defense.
13three-hour
classes
classes
5project
stages
Scan · fit · design · integrate · defend
stages
The course journey Learn the technology chain, prove its operational fit, then defend how it creates business value.
How the learning works
Build one argument across technology and business.
Every exercise, case, and project checkpoint asks you to make the connection visible: what happens, what data represent it, what analysis supports which action, and why that action matters.
The Industry 4.0 Decision Rhythm
Use the same reasoning in technical exercises, application analysis, cases, and your project.
Design the data chain
Connect sensing, transmission, processing, analytics, insight, action, feedback, and accountable oversight.
Make every link testable.Prove the business case
Explain value, revenue or resource logic, adoption, organization, risk, and what must be learned before implementation.
Technology plausibility is only half the case.The course architecture
Technologies → applications → business → project defense.
Select a stage to inspect its classes, methods, evidence standard, project output, and handoff to the next stage.
Your course materials
One technical spine, two business cases, and a current lab environment.
Use only authorized library, publisher, and Brightspace routes. Licensed books, cases, teaching notes, and course files must not be redistributed.
Required textbookTechnical spine
Introduction to Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0
Sudip Misra · Chandana Roy · Anandarup Mukherjee
Assigned chapters support foundations, architecture, cloud services, analytics, business models, applications, and smart supply chains.
CRC Press · electronic access through the Carleton University Library, subject to its current licenceBusiness caseConnected logistics
Bossard AG
Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide
Use the authorized case to examine replenishment, visibility, operating change, customer value, scaling, and implementation dependencies.
Harvard Business Publishing · access through the authorized course or library routeBusiness caseTraceable supply chain
Coda Coffee and Bext360
Machine vision · artificial intelligence · Internet of Things · blockchain
Analyze how technology, information, governance, incentives, quality, trust, and value distribution fit—or fail to fit—together.
Harvard Business Publishing · access through the authorized course or library routeBrightspaceCurrent implementation
Labs, rubrics and weekly guidance
Platform access · exercises · slides · checkpoints
Brightspace names the supported lab platform and carries access instructions, assigned reading portions, project rubrics, submission links, and current logistics.
The public site deliberately does not freeze a vendor or expired platformYour semester
Thirteen classes form one Industry 4.0 proposal lifecycle.
Open a class to see what to prepare, what the room will analyze or build, and what evidence carries into the next project decision.
How your work is assessed
Eighty percent develops and documents one proposal.
Three checkpoints, the term paper, final defense, and active participation total 100%. Select an item to see what it produces and what strong work demonstrates.
30%Three Project Checkpoints
The project rule: the checkpoints are not three unrelated presentations. They accumulate into one approximately twenty-page, double-spaced paper and one final presentation and question period. Brightspace carries rubrics, groups, formats, submissions, and deadlines.
The visible quality standard
Do not jump from a sensor to “business value.”
Strong work makes the intermediate reasoning visible: event, stakeholder pain, data, analysis, insight, decision, response, outcome, business logic, and risk.
If one link is vague or unsupported, the project should say what evidence or test is needed rather than hide the uncertainty.
1Problem + stakeholderWhich measurable pain matters to whom?
2Sensor + dataWhat must be observed, at what quality and speed?
3Analysis + actionWhich insight changes which accountable decision?
4Value + viabilityWho benefits, who pays, and what can block adoption?
Use the full chainProblem → sensing → data → analysis → action → outcome → business value
Before the course begins
Secure access and understand the project rhythm.
Your checklist is saved in this browser. Brightspace and Banner provide current meeting, lab, group, platform, deadline, room, and delivery details.
Questions students usually ask
Know how the project and course systems work.
The capability you are building