How will smart manufacturing change in 2021?

The coronavirus crisis has reminded us all of the often invisible power that manufacturers and logistics companies have in moving events forward.

Remember all the panic buying of toilet paper and pasta and the shortage of personal protective equipment at the start of the crisis? Well, goods are mainly produced and delivered.

　But behind the scenes, years of processes designed to drive operational cost control, efficiency and predictability have been supplemented and sometimes replaced by processes that emphasize flexibility and resilience.

Looking ahead to 2021, the current crisis will accelerate the digital transformation efforts already underway in manufacturing. It will drive the transformation of underlying core systems from linear transactions focused on efficiency and cost to continuous interactions focused on effectiveness and customer value. So, what are some of the key highlights we can expect from smart manufacturing?

　Increased agility and resilience

　The manufacturing ecosystem will drive flexibility and resilience. For example, in 2021, most large manufacturers will re-evaluate their supply chain systems and processes with the goal of increasing resilience and flexibility.

They will regularly aggregate data on supplier and operator performance and make faster decisions about which ecosystem relationships need to be entered or exited. They will move many of these systems to the cloud to manage everyone's operations everywhere, improving collaboration of these systems across a broader ecosystem of partners.

The growth of emerging technologies

Emerging technologies will become catalysts for change. The pandemic has shown how emerging technologies such as augmented reality and additive manufacturing (3D printing) can help in emergencies, but now manufacturers are looking at how to drive sustainable value, transforming their organizations How it works.

Engineers guide customers through remote maintenance tasks as travel restrictions limit their ability to assist in person. The need to respond quickly to the pandemic removed many barriers to adoption.

　 MentionHigh skills are critical

Improving human skills will be a key success factor. Despite ongoing automation within manufacturing companies, talent shortage has become a major issue, especially in China and India.

The process of manufacturing advanced artificial intelligence and automation technologies has expanded from repetitive physical tasks to the realm of knowledge.

In 2021, manufacturing companies will actively invest in technologies such as unstructured content analytics, digital worker analytics, knowledge management solutions, industry knowledge graphs, and reinforcement learning.

　(Original title: How will smart manufacturing change in 2021?)