**8. Conclusions**

This paper proposes a novel approach for the integration of the distributed additive manufacturing process enabling remote designing, the selection of appropriate manufacturing means, and the implementation of a physical production process and control at all stages. This approach was possible thanks to the development of an unprecedented framework, through which we were able to integrate distributed and functionally di fferent elements (IT and manufacturing), forming a coherent design and manufacturing system. Importantly, this framework ensures not only an increase in production e fficiency but also shortens production time, reduces costs, and increases the flexibility of and accessibility to the latest methods and design and manufacturing tools. In addition, we presented a mechanism that facilitates the integration of independent manufacturing environments by considering and implementing appropriate levels of maturity in the system. The validity of the presented solution was also confirmed by its implementation in a real production environment, i.e., at Infosoftware Poland. At present, work is in progress to integrate the rapid prototyping laboratory of the Rzeszów University of Technology with the infrastructure of the company to expand the available functionality, i.e., by providing a larger machine park, a wider range of design and modeling tools, and facilitating the development of analytical tools supporting the decision-making process. The presented platform can be widely used in the automotive and aerospace industries, and will facilitate cooperation between industrial clusters and academic centers to a higher degree, as well as encourage cooperation between small enterprises and startups. From the perspective of management, the technical implementation of the presented framework allows one to adapt to the needs of globalization, and facilitates the integration of distributed resources. Thus, this framework a ffects business, logistics and technological processes. One of the implications of implementing such a framework is the need to develop or adapt existing workflows to the new heterogeneous and distributed work environment. This is an interesting issue and may constitute the background of a new article. Considering the technological aspects, it remains a large challenge to achieve higher levels of maturity in a diverse ownership environment. This process requires cooperation and adoption at the managemen<sup>t</sup> levels regarding the common assumptions behind the direction of development and implemented investments. In a homogeneous ownership environment, the related processes and decisions are much simpler. One of the significant limitations, that may a ffect the speed and scope of the integration of distributed heterogeneous design and production environments, is the lack of protocols and standards enabling the use of plug-and-play techniques known from ICT environments to enable the automated integration of physical devices with design applications and the preparation of the final manufacturing process, as well as with job queuing

and decision support systems. The current approach based on the individual integration of individual infrastructure components requires a grea<sup>t</sup> deal of time and e ffort to achieve a higher level of maturity. The potential development of technology in this area could contribute to the full use of cross-layer optimization, as well as full automation of the attachment and disconnection of individual production devices. Of course, manufacturers of production devices use selected communication standards with their own dedicated applications, but there is currently no uniform mechanism comparable to the automatic installation of drivers in computer devices. Development in this direction would not only concern technological development, but would also influence the evolution of managemen<sup>t</sup> models. The proposed solution, especially in terms of achieving the highest level of IT maturity, may enable the further evolution of productions methods toward Industry 5.0. Such progress will entail the implementation of fully autonomous production areas, where, after ensuring integration at the ICT level (i.e., IoT), it will be possible to implement a concept based on self-adaptive IoE (Internet of Everything) systems. Under this approach, IT systems based on artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big Data, and modern and safe communication systems will not only support decision-making processes at various stages of design and manufacturing, but will gradually replace them by creating Integrated Adaptive Generation Systems. In future works, we plan to develop solutions supporting decision-making in the field of design and production based on the experience of engineers, available technological databases and expert systems in the form of an iterative adaptive decision support system improved via the loopback model for Cyber–Human systems. Such a system would shorten the time needed for the design and production process, reduce the costs related to corrections and waste, and thus increase the quality of the services provided.

**Author Contributions:** A.P., M.B., G.B., Ł.P., and M.O. researched the literature; A.P., M.B., and G.B. formulated the problems and constructed the research framework, A.P., M.B., G.B., Ł.P., and M.O. conceived the methodologies and designed the experiments; A.P., M.B., G.B., Ł.P., and M.O. performed the simulations; A.P., M.B., G.B., Ł.P., and M.O. investigated and developed the application of the results in a real production environment; A.P., M.B., G.B., Ł.P., and M.O. contributed to the writing of this paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This project is financed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland within the "Regional Initiative of Excellence" program for years 2019–2022. Project number 027/RID/2018/19, amount granted 11 999 900 PLN.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
