Manufacturing the Future
Revolutions in Manufacturing
Manufacturing continues to rapidly move away from the stereotype of dark, dirty, and dangerous. More and more, manufacturing looks like a futurescape of technology and innovation, a dance between humans and machines in an ever-increasing array of almost mind-boggling opportunities.
During my career, I’ve been involved with some really cool technologies including 7-axis carbon fiber layups, advanced factory simulations, and additive manufacturing to name a few. That’s only the tip of the iceberg of what’s actually happening across manufacturing. If you look across our portfolio companies, there are a number of companies redefining manufacturing, including Diamond Age, which is using full-stack robotics in the field to automate the building of single-family homes (and more) to Fort Robotics, which is enabling safety across many industries with their wireless platform technology (I cherish tech that makes manufacturing safer).
Over the past few months, I’ve been spending time getting to know these companies and a great many more, to understand where the trends in manufacturing are heading and I’m very excited with where we’re headed:
Distributed Manufacturing
Also called decentralized manufacturing or localized manufacturing, distributed manufacturing is a model of manufacturing that leverages many of the Industry 4.0 technologies to create production facilities near the customer, shortening the supply chain and further enabling customization of the products. This isn’t an entirely new model as companies like Toyota, have been building their products near their customers for decades. Also distributed manufacturing is the culmination of the maker space/ DIY culture that has been gaining momentum since before the turn of the century.
What is new to this trend is the massive advancements in additive manufacturing (and subtractive manufacturing for that matter) paired with automation and AI. These combinations lead to local manufacturing, from the printing of houses as mentioned earlier, and to companies like Unilever building ‘nanofactories’ to react to rapid customer demand changes.
In some extreme cases, distributed manufacturing could upend existing companies’ models, from on-demand clothing to instantly customized toys. It will also likely impact our increasing trend toward warehousing spare parts and building large inventories to handle demand fluctuations in many industries. We might even get to the point where we are locally manufacturing our own foods (at companies like Upward Farms) and pharmaceuticals within local city limits.
Circular Manufacturing & Green Manufacturing
Circular and green manufacturing are driven by many of the same advances and mindsets as distributed manufacturing. Circular manufacturing is part of the circular economy and aims to achieve three things:
1. Reduce the energy consumption and material inputs on the front end
2. Increase maintainability during the life of the product
3. Improve our ability to recover, reuse and recycle most, if not all, of the product at the end of its useful life
Again, this isn’t a new idea: Japan was recycling paper in 1031; American aluminum can recycling started in 1904.
Circular manufacturing is gaining popularity due to several wider trends, including environmental awareness, growth in the continuous improvement mindset, and hardware and software improvements. Today, we are able to make parts with 3D printers with 95% less material in some applications. We are also able to use recycled materials in many applications, including art. This creates a huge opportunity for circular manufacturing to find ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Continued Drive of IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things)
With the IIOT market expecting to expand some $40bn by 2025, this will continue to be a massive trend in all industries. The key here is the integration of IT (data management) and OT (operational tech). For instance, a company could integrate its back-end finance software with a shop system like SCADA to directly influence the management of the business.
Another key to this is the growth of digital twins and simulation. These tools, if properly deployed, can speed up the development of just about any product… (if you have the right inputs, otherwise it can turn into garbage in, garbage out). There are examples of digital twins being used in everything from new theme parks and ball stadiums to advanced aircraft design. If you get it right, it will increase productivity, reduce costs and even improve safety.
Human Augmentation
Human augmentation applied in a manufacturing setting is just in its infancy and there is still debate over what the right amount is and how to ensure the workforce engages with the tech. I’ve seen exoskeletons deployed to help reduce injury and fatigue, but they were poorly designed and after a couple of months, they just hung on the wall, never to be used.
Done right, this space has huge potential. From data systems that help reduce workload (paired with IIOT mentioned above) to properly designed exoskeletons and wearables to AR/VR that improve productivity and awareness, this trend may seem like Hollywood hyperbole but it could have massive impacts. We’ve even partnered with Attune Neurosciences who aim to help shift workers improve their sleep cycles.
I’m extremely excited by the future of manufacturing and the human potential it will unlock. From nano-manufacturing to space manufacturing and so many other revolutions, the next few decades in manufacturing will be amazing to engage with and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.
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