May 20199MANUFACTURINGTECHNOLOGYINSIGHTSand improved customer service, which are all supportive of a positive customer experience, and customer loyalty.Merging manufacturing technologiesNext, I will address the anticipated blending of traditionally separate technologies. Think about cars and built-in internet radio, fashion accessories and wearable tech, or in Alcon's case, the working partnership with Verily to develop contact lenses and intraocular lenses with embedded electronics.The drive behind the trend of merging manufacturing technologies is to support smaller, simpler products with real-time monitoring and adaptive capability. When implementing this strategy, manufacturers will see a short-term increase in costs. However, investing in merged technologies will pay off in long-term. For example, by reducing the number of separate processes that must be linked together downstream, costs and cycle time will be reduced, and throughput will increase. Finally, integrating disparate technologies can also facilitate a competitive edge, create new market opportunities, and establish a company as a niche player.Robotics and AutomationIn today's fast-paced and consumer-driven world, manufacturers must balance efficiency, high yield and low COGs with quality. As a result, manufacturing will continue to move towards higher levels of automation. However, we are at a stage where the industry cannot sustain the large lot sizes of the prior era. Automation will therefore become more flexible and capable of scaling down to manage smaller lot sizes as efficiently as larger lots. 3D printing will continue its evolution with a broader range of materials, higher quality and faster processing times. At its current rate of innovation, 3D printing is primed to potentially influence COGs, impacting the manufacturing industry as a whole.Where tasks cannot be accomplished with traditional automation, or the product is highly dynamic, robotics will come into play more frequently. Indeed in the 2017 Gartner predictions in Supply Chain Trends and Innovations, they see that increased deployment of robots in companies will give rise to a new "c-suite" title "CRO" Chief Robotics Officer.Continuous BioProcessingPharmaceutical companies have been traditionally linked to batch processes, but new developments in the area of continuous bioprocessing show that it is possible to create a product flow from raw material to finished product without the need for batch processes. While this might seem like a niche technology, it opens the door for other pharma applications, going beyond specific compounds or reaction technology. Continuous BioProcessing is also relevant for other industries, challenging the assumption that batch processing is the only way to manufacture certain products.ConclusionThe five technologies I've covered are connected by a common thread--the flow and dependence on information. And even these areas are not distinct. One day your wearable tech might signal to your smartphone that you need to reorder a few items. Your smartphone will respond by sending the order to an e-commerce site which will then schedule the order via ERP and download the relevant instructions to a robotic work-cell.This is an exciting time for the manufacturing industry. It's tempting to think of the future as far off. But, actually it is already here, "it's just unevenly distributed." This is an exciting time for the manufacturing industry. It's tempting to think of the future as far off. But, actually it is already here, it's just unevenly distributedKarl Rosenblum
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