What is the future of manufacturing?

With the widening of material selection, the optimization of material properties and the improvement of material efficiency and quality, additive manufacturing (3D printing) is widely regarded as a "direct production" process. However, additive manufacturing should not only be regarded as a manufacturing process. Additive manufacturing not only changes the manufacturing mode of products, but also changes the transportation mode of products (that is, its influence on supply chain and logistics) and the design mode of products (such as topology optimization or component merger). ).

As far as business model is concerned, manufacturing service is becoming the core driving force to define product value. In the following case, manufacturing leads value creation and technology makes it possible. Many manufacturing companies have realized that manufacturing and service industries are merging, because our economy has shifted from simple one-off transactions to continuous interaction between companies and customers. The services realized by intelligent sensors and communication technologies are very advanced and profitable. They are gradually becoming an unattainable and important link in the business model of many manufacturers. The manufacturing-service mixed business model is gaining great success.

The future factory will be a mixture of robots and humans, a mixture of addition and subtraction manufacturing, a mixture of composite materials and metals, a mixture of digital processes and analog processes, a mixture of network systems and physical systems, and a synthesis of many elements in nano and macro scales. Robots will not completely replace humans, just as additive manufacturing will not completely replace subtractive manufacturing. However, they will work together to achieve a reasonable distribution of responsibilities.