Technology
If you Google “next industrial revolution,” you’ll find plenty of candidates: 3D printers, nanomaterials, artificial intelligence, robots, and even new economic system models. Certainly technology will be a prime mover in the coming dramatic changes.
Another industrial revolution is at hand. Technical revolution means advances in technology bringing about rapid and dramatic industry change.
Manufacturing
Innovations are creating a computer-driven, robotic environment very different from the grimy factories of old. In the competition of the market, speed of delivery, and above all cost-effectiveness, are the winning advantage.The future of manufacturing lies not with big corporations operating cheap factories around the world, but with smaller, technically focused firms that can get ideas developed and marketed more efficiently than the competition. Companies like Streamline Circuits specialize in equipment for cheaper manufacturing with greater precision.
Connectivity
Today's industries are just as intimately connected to offices around the world as they are to their own factory floor. It means not just computer driven equipment, but computer-assisted design tools and big-data business analytics. Cloud computing and video conferencing mean almost instantaneous cooperation between a design team in San Diego and a sales team in New York.Sensors and cameras can monitor processes and collect information more accurately and reliably than any human, providing heaps of data for rapid computer analysis. Humans are able to get alerts and reports almost instantly without being anywhere near the equipment.
Labor
Labor costs that have driven jobs overseas may be coming back as automation cuts costs. But will more robots mean more jobs?Related articles
The technical revolution means an increasing demand for those properly trained to support and operate the new equipment. Companies may also want to be closer to home, as they will need support from the technical companies that provided their equipment.Additive Manufacturing
This approach has brought about the 3D printer, which builds up a part according to a digital file. GE has promised to make thousands of patents available online. Designers can download these files from the cloud and create virtually any component. Printers have been designed to use everything from chocolate to metal alloys, including human tissue. One machine was able to produce an edible piece of beef from biological components.There is a 3Doodler 3D printing pen
that lets us send parts straight from the drawing board to the printer. Imagine factory floors where custom parts are being produced as quickly as they can be imagined. Before too long, some of the items being produced will be more and better machines. With advancements in AI, we could soon see 3D printers designing and creating a new generation of 3D printers. The technical revolution will only move faster.
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