How Technology Is Evolving in the Manufacturing Industry

Anyone who doubts that the recent turn of the century truly marked a break from the past need only look at the way new technologies have transformed daily lives in the past 16 years. From the millions of people around the world who carry sophisticated computers called smartphones everywhere they go, through to the way major corporations and industries have transformed their operations, constantly evolving tech is at work everywhere you look.

At a very basic level, consumer behavior has changed beyond recognition and has set up a feedback loop where manufacturers and retailers have had to adapt and yet also lead. New payments and delivery systems are where the most obvious public-facing changes lie, but further up the supply chain, the effects of change have also been strongly felt.

Business-to-business relationships have had to adapt to new hi-tech manufacturing processes. Some of these have transformed both the working lives of hundreds of thousands of people and the way that many industries actually operate on a day-to-day basis. How exactly is the evolution of technology in manufacturing making its presence felt?

Evolution not revolution

The word “evolution” is key because it is an ongoing process, rather than the short, sharp shock of a new industrial revolution. The fact that data and information in digital form now plays such a huge role in the way whole societies are effectively being run means it is no surprise that manufacturing has also been affected. A purely data-driven factory may still be some way off, but the lines are becoming more blurred between internal and external activities and how they connect designers, manufacturing workers, and customers, who are all increasingly playing complementary roles.

A future model could see operators access materials on demand in collaboration with robotic systems in a directly connected line with end consumers. Assembly lines would then move away from depersonalized mass production towards a more bespoke output.

Factory environments

The factory floor is already a very different place from what it was only a couple of decades ago. Safer, more eco-friendly and much more highly automated environments mean that the composition of the workforce has been transformed.

The next phase of change is likely to be driven by the further emergence of the “Internet of Things”, where a wide range of machines, both domestic and commercial, communicate with each other to rationalize supply lines. Already, the status of production lines can be monitored in real time by using mobile devices and Wi-Fi RFID tags. As the technologies involved continue to evolve, the role of humans in the process is virtually assured to diminish.

These effects can be seen in various companies across the spectrum, but for industrial manufacturing companies, the next generation of technology will mean connected information platforms use data and analytics to achieve a higher ratio of better-quality, more durable, and more reliable products with a much lower defect rate.

General Electric makes wind turbines by a process that points towards where things are going. In the manufacturing of the huge products, 20,000 sensors produce 400 data points per second, which allows for immediate real-time ongoing analysis that is fed into an optimization of turbine performance and decision-making regarding maintenance and replacement issues.

Economic factors

The world’s economy is still fragile after the banking crisis, and a successful manufacturing sector is vital for recovery on national and international levels. With the globalization of markets being an inevitable result of technological advances, the health of different economies are increasingly interlinked.

For instance, the way that Chinese manufacturing output now performs has direct effects on other major economic players around the world. Over the last decade, China has emerged as the latest manufacturing powerhouse, and the way that it is adapting to automation is an important factor. Increases in industrial demand have seen a huge growth in industrial robotics use in the country. A report by PwC’s Strategy&, a global team of practical strategists, recently pointed to figures from the International Federation of Robotics that showed the number of shipments of multipurpose industrial robots in China has essentially doubled since 2013 and is forecast to double yet again by 2018.

Obviously, automation in environments that are potentially hazardous to human workers can only be seen as a good thing, but the wider scope of robotic system applications means that a much greater number of workers are likely to be affected by this particular aspect of the march of progress. It is inevitable that the increased use of robots will mean job losses and major changes in working practices for employees around the world.

From a business owner’s point of view, automated processes can mean less waste in terms of faulty products, streamlining of work flow management and, of course, a bottom line reduction in employment cost.

Applications

Although the word “manufacturing” may cause many people to think of heavy plant machinery or perhaps automotive industries, in fact, it can apply to almost any mass-produced item. By looking on rinco-usa.com, you can see examples of ultrasonic cutting machines and components that are having a transformative effect on the manufacture of textiles and fabrics as cutting and sealing operations become more flexible and creative.

This is only one example of the way that a whole range of new technologies, largely unknown outside of their own industries, are having real and positive impacts on the way that manufacturing companies across every spectrum of production are adapting and moving forward.

Future shock

What does the future hold for those involved in manufacturing, supply chains, and retail, and for the end user consumer? New technology is not only causing large-scale evolution in the “making of things”, but it is also causing a sea change on the other end of the scale.

Although still at relatively early stages, 3D printing is certain to come down in cost and increase in flexibility to truly become a high street staple and eventually a common domestic appliance. The effects on larger manufacturing when this happens are almost impossible to predict, as small items such as an auto part replacement might plausibly be “manufactured” in the home by simply downloading a schematic online. When this does become an everyday occurrence, the move from “evolution” to “revolution” might take place.