Craftsman Smart Factory study guide
Craftsman Smart Factory · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Craftsman Smart Factory credential is a vendor-neutral, multiple-choice examination aimed at technicians, line engineers, and production supervisors who work where operational technology meets information technology. It tests whether a candidate can reason across the whole plant rather than only inside one machine: how sensors and gateways feed data upward, how PLCs and robots are coordinated, how that data becomes a digital twin or an analytics input, and how security and safety constraints shape every design choice. The Craftsman Smart Factory study guide has 6 sections and about 2,037 words.
01Smart Factory Fundamentals and Industrial IoT
This domain tests whether you can separate a smart-factory architecture from generic IoT, place functions at the correct ISA-95 level, and reason quantitatively about OEE and IIoT data flow. ISA-95/Purdue levels: 0 sensors and actuators, 1 control, 2 supervisory, 3 operations/MES, 4 business/ERP.
343 words, about 2 min02Industrial Networks, Connectivity, and Data Acquisition
This domain tests network segmentation, industrial protocol selection, deterministic behavior, and reliable data acquisition from controllers to historians and cloud services. Segment by Purdue level and by function.
339 words, about 2 min03Automation, Robotics, and Control Systems
This domain tests PLC scan behavior, PID control, robot motion concepts, and the separation of standard control from safety functions. A PLC scan reads inputs, executes logic, then writes outputs.
338 words, about 2 min04Manufacturing Data Analytics and Digital Twin
This domain tests data-quality judgment, statistical process control, analytics maturity, and the disciplined use of digital twins rather than simulation theater. Analytics maturity: descriptive (what happened), diagnostic (why), predictive (what will happen), prescriptive (what to do).
329 words, about 2 min05Cybersecurity and Safety in Smart Manufacturing
This domain tests defense-in-depth for OT, IEC 62443 zoning, risk-based patching, remote-access control, and the distinction between functional safety and cybersecurity. IEC 62443 uses zones (assets with common security requirements) and conduits (controlled communication paths).
352 words, about 2 min06Smart Factory Planning, Integration, and Operations
This domain tests how to scope a smart-factory program, integrate MES/ERP/OT without point-to-point sprawl, and prove value in operations after go-live. Start with a baseline KPI and a bounded use case.
336 words, about 2 min