Gartner: 10 strategic technology trends in manufacturing
Manufacturing Global takes a look at Gartner’s list of 10 strategic technological trends in the manufacturing industry.
Autonomous Things
As the manufacturing industry continues to increase its adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) as well as other robotic applications, the industry will see an increase in convergence to smart factories by harnessing the intelligent automation of process that artificial intelligence (AI) provides to support operations.
Augmented Analytics
By harnessing machine learning (ML) and industrial internet of things (IoT), manufacturers can automate data preparation, management and analysis of production data. As a result, organisations can expect to experience a change in speed and efficiency when it comes to operational decisions.
Long-term manufacturers will need to overcome the shortage of holistic, harmonized and context-based data models. In achieving this manufacturers will go beyond descriptive and diagnostic analytics and improve actionable decisions.
Digital Twins
powered by IoT, digital twins are a digital representation of physical entities/systems. Digital twins are harnessed to shorten the commissioning time frame of new lines.
Immediate benefits include drastic improvements in reliability and increase capacity due to having the ability to identify downtime before it happens.
Empowered Edge
Also harnessing IoT empowered edge removes the need to create a new architecture when trying to keep processing close to the plant. Instead cloud and edge computing has evolved to become complimentary to the existing systems’ architecture. This creates opportunities to access new data sources, as well as widening the understanding and knowledge of production performance.
Immersive Experiences
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies aare defined by Gartner as driving the future of immersive experiences. Via these new models and experiences, the capabilities of humans can be amplified, while the nature of work, methods and procedures are completely changed.
3D printing
3D printing — a manufacturing process that produces objects based on a 3D digital model. 3D printers add materials layer by layer to produce complex objects rapidly and at a low cost for short runs or for one off parts.
“We’re on the cusp of the 4th Industrial Revolution, where physical and digital technologies will radically alter how companies conceive, design, produce, distribute and repair nearly everything. The increased global demand for sustainable solutions and customised products has resulted in a surge in demand for 3D-printed parts and products,” says Paul Benning, Chief Technologist at 3D Print HP Inc.
Smart Factory
The smart factory — a term that describes the application of different combinations of modern technologies, creating a hyper-flexible, self-adapting manufacturing capability.
Smart factories provide opportunities to create new levels of efficiency and flexibility by streamlining the use of different processes, information streams and stakeholders.
Other terms for smart factory include: digital factory or intelligent factory.
Block Chain
Manufacturers looking to streamline their operations to increase visibility and track assets with precision are beginning to develop blockchain implementations. Due to its power to foster trust blockchain has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing.
Key areas blockchain could have a positive impact include:
- Supply-chain monitoring
- Materials provenance and counterfeit detection
- Engineering design for long-duration, high-complexity products
- Identity management
- Asset tracking
- Quality assurance
- Regulatory compliance
Data monetisation
Data — the new gold in the business world. The evolution of the ways in which data is used and analysed is changing the foundations of how businesses conduct their operations.
Industry leaders in manufacturing agree that the prime objective for their data and analytics activities is to generate revenue. Though still a relatively new concept data monetisation has begun to correlate with industry-leading performance. In a recent McKinsey report high performance companies were more likely than others to have already started monetising data, stating that these efforts are contributing to over 20% of the company’s revenue.
Product personalisation
Personalisation — a common trend among most industries and the manufacturing industry is no exception. As consumers continue to demand more, manufacturers should look to harness seven types of technology to drive the next wave of mass customisation.
- Social technologies
- Online interactive product configurators
- 3D scanning and modeling
- Smart algorithms for dynamic pricing
- Recommendation engines
- Flexible production systems
- Enterprise and production software
For more information on manufacturing topics — please take a look at the latest edition of Manufacturing Global.
