As manufacturing continues to move deeper and faster into the technological and digital space, which tech trends are set to be the most influential this year?

Manufacturing is on the cusp of several technology trends altering the sector as we know it. Here are some of the key technological and digital trends that are striving to break-through in 2016:

Industrial Internet of Things

The Internet of Things or IOT, a development which enables everyday objects to send and receive data over a network, will allow companies to harness critical data, creating smarter, more flexible and cost-effective manufacturing processes. It will enable the automation of many aspects of production from predicting machinery maintenance to the optimisation of supply chain visibility.

No longer will it be a case of batch-level visibility – but unit-level visibility.

No longer will supply chains be forecast driven – but demand driven.

IoT will allow manufacturers to capture critical information throughout the value chain. From quality levels and costs to time-to-market, demand management and customer feedback, the accuracy and agility of the manufacturing process will be revolutionised, offering opportunities to transform from a product-led enterprise to a service.

40%
of companies believe that smart manufacturing/IoT are ready for exploitation and should be invested in now.

3D Printing

The technology will continue to grow in importance during 2016. While issues remain over the cost of 3D printing, its relevance in the manufacturing space cannot be ignored. It’s predicted that the number of material types available will increase, the speed of printing will quicken and there will be significant improvements in the models used to print and assemble composite parts.

It means manufacturers must begin to investigate how their assembly lines and supply chain processes can be transformed via 3D printing. Such planning should begin in 2016 or else businesses risk being left behind by faster-moving competitors.

64.1%
Compound Annual Growth Rate of enterprise 3D-printing shipments by 2019.

Information of Everything

The world is increasing its use of ‘Big Data’ but the question remains – how do you turn other data sources into something that is meaningful to your enterprise? IoE will enable manufacturers to wrangle such disparate data sets and transform them into valuable insights. Core to this process are powerful algorithms that will leverage the data into identifiable trends that can be acted on by manufacturers.

25 billion 
The number of devices that will be generating data by 2020.

Smart Machines

Proclaimed to be the ‘new industrial revolution’, the automation of manufacturing by robotics is already underway but 2016 will see further enhancements across all smart machines whether they’re robotics, autonomous vehicles or otherwise. At the core of the predicted change is ‘advanced machine learning’ where smart machines will learn to ‘perceive’ the world on their own, helping harness the potential of the Information of Everything.

Critically for SMEs, robotics will be more affordable, meaning their use will become more prevalent, leading to greater automation and optimisation of production lines.

45% 
of manufacturing tasks will be performed by robots within ten years compared to 10% today.

Augmented Reality

While 2016 is set to be the year of virtual reality with a host of competitors releasing products including the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, it’s the benefits of Augmented Reality that should interest manufacturers the most. The ability to overlay graphics onto the real world via the use of a headset could have significant ramifications for the factory floor.

For instance, AR could enable a worker to operate multiple factory machines from the comfort of their desk, allow staff to fix faulty machines via display-mounted onscreen instructions or be used to help train employees ‘virtually’. While tech such as the Microsoft HoloLens has yet to be given an official release date, 2016 will see more information rolling out on what could be a game-changing time for the manufacturing sector.

Takeaways:

• The Internet of Things wants to optimise manufacturing process with never-seen-before visibility.
• Manufacturers should plan now to exploit the potential of additive manufacturing as the technology begins to reach maturity.
• Robotics now offers more affordable automation and smart machines can even ‘learn on the job’.
• Monitor the potential of augmented reality as it slowly expands its range of uses in manufacturing.

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