1 -The widespread adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is profoundly changing manufacturing. Several Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 solutions deployed in production environments have pushed for standardization efforts, most notably Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0), typically focusing on smart factory environments. However, ICT evolution is also enabling novel smart appliance scenarios, where relatively cheap machines, connected and integrated, are deployed outside the typical industrial environment with a wide range of stakeholders involved. The paper reports about a real-world use case composed of more than 12000 ice cream machines connected worldwide and shows how, anticipating the state-of-the-art, the underlying design of the ICT platform presents many interesting similarities with RAMI 4.0. The integration of appliances in a smart value chain enables to develop novel services for different stakeholders, ranging from ice cream manufacturer and maintenance technicians to ice cream shop owners and final consumers. The important synergies with RAMI 4.0 and the extensive onthe-field validation make the proposed solution a compelling reference application, from which to draw useful and generally applicable guidelines for the development of future Industry 4.0 smart appliance platforms.

E-maintenance aims to automate management operations, like diagnostics and prognostics, by exploiting information and communication technologies (ICT) for the remote monitoring and control of manufacturing devices. E-maintenance has initially interested large plant machinery, but recent ICT advances are making it affordable also for mass-produced equipment such as household and similar appliances. This paper presents some general guidelines to consider when designing and building e-maintenance platforms for this class of machines, discussing both the functional requirements that the platform should provide and the most suitable models, architectures, and software engineering principles for its realisation. As a case study the paper presents the Carpigiani e-maintenance solution for high-duty ice cream making machines that provide remote monitoring, self-diagnostics and self-prognostics, and remote assistance interventions functions. The Carpigiani e-maintenance solution controls almost 2,000 machines installed all over the world and it is significantly improving the after-sale services provided to Carpigiani customers.

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In modern manufacturing, the integration of ICT in the maintenance process, led to the development of emaintenance, that automates management operations. Emaintenance, that initially interested only large plant machinery, is now becoming affordable for mass-produced equipment, thanks to the recent advances in ICT. This paper presents Teorema, an innovative e-maintenance solution for Carpigiani ice cream machines, which provides several services: remote monitoring of machines, automatic notification of malfunctions, diagnostics and prognostics functions, remote assistance interventions, and automated reporting of production data. Teorema is already in production and it is significantly improving the after-sale service to Carpigiani customers.