THE FUTURE FOR MANUFACTURING
MANUFACTURING 4.0
and is one of the reasons I love working in manufacturing and engineering — finding novel solutions to problems that impact people ’ s quality of life .”
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THE FUTURE FOR MANUFACTURING
What are Geyer ’ s predictions for the further development of on demand solutions for manufacturing ? “ The one that feels the most exciting is that , as digital manufacturing becomes more prevalent , companies selling a digitally connected manufacturing equipment ( such as a metal 3D printer ) will be able to sell that printer with an uptime insurance contract ,” explains Geyer . “ At $ 1mn a piece , buyers concerned they won ’ t have enough demand to justify expenditure can connect to a digital network , like Fictiv , and , when they have the capacity , channel jobs via the platform , making everything from consumer electronics to aerospace components .”
“ The idea of the automated , or self-driving , supply chain is going to be really exciting when you start to think about connecting latent capacity automatically and using machine learning to distribute work to the places that make the most sense for the type of work that ’ s required , whether that ’ s because of quality , or the geographic preference of the purchaser ,“ adds Geyer , who believes the technology will allow for broader customisation . “ Right now , products are built based on market research by the millions . They ’ re shoved onto store
JANUARY 2020