Manufacturing – Trends:
- Collaborative robots
- 3D printing -> faster and cheaper production -> ability to manufacture on demand, instead of having to manufacture big amounts and warehouse them
- Virtual reality product developers can use it to make modifications to products during the product design stage before they go into modelling process
- Smart factories -> integration of shop floor decisions with the rest of the supply chain; a system that can self-optimize performance, self-adapt and learn from new conditions
- Supply chain optimization -> cloud model that unifies internal and external processes across extended networks -> better flexibility to adapt to disruptions, greater speed of execution
- Industry 4.0 – current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies;
- Internet of Things empowering to manufacturers to make informed strategic decisions by providing crucial, real-time information
- Predictive maintenance technology -> it monitors the condition of in-service equipment -> thanks to that manufacturer can develop better understanding of how system works and whey they will fail -> could reduce companies’ maintenance costs by 20% and reduce unplanned outages by 50%
- Transformation from B2B to B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer)
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Reshoring – taking the operations back to the country where the company operate instead of offshoring
- Electric cars
- Driverless vehicles
Challenges:
- Manufactures increasingly rely on technology, so the manufacturers have to be equipped with tech skills as well -> probably hard to find such employees
- How to implement new technologies to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency
- Will the robots make manufacturers jobless?