Overview of machine learning applications in manufacturing: From specialization to transfer learning

The shift of manufacturing systems toward the paradigms of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 has significantly boosted the integration of Machine Learning (ML) technologies in this field. With the rapid growth of research leveraging ML to enhance manufacturing functions, this review aims to provide a thorough and up-to-date overview of these applications. A total of 114 journal articles were collected, analyzed, and categorized based on supervision approaches, ML algorithms, and application domains. The study highlights the benefits of ML in manufacturing, alongside identifying potential avenues for future research. Notably, the paper highlights that the prevalent focus on highly specialized applications in manufacturing could be mitigated by encouraging the implementation of transfer learning within the industry.