There are those saying the United States is on the verge of a comeback in manufacturing and the surge has everything to do with innovation and digital manufacturing concepts. Experts who are in charge of industrial component supplies are saying this is one of the biggest advancements in industry for America since the 1800s when the USA became a global leader.
The concept is called direct digital manufacturing (DDM) and basically, it takes the production of parts and products and places them into the hands of automation and computer-generated processes. Many people are saying this next Industrial Revolution was never envisioned way back in the 1940s when assembly lines and human operators were the norm. Digital transformation is occurring across every industry thanks to elements like big data and virtual design, cloud technology and the automation of the entire process with robotics.
Industrial component supplies and robotics
There’s a new workforce that needs to be crafted to fit in with this digitization. Modern digital manufacturing requires more highly trained workers and people to act in support roles. One of the biggest winners with this latest wave of innovation will be the consumer. Some of the larger accounting/consulting firms in the United States like Accenture have even predicted that the Internet of Things, which is the blanket term covering the technology driving this new digitization, will add $14.2 trillion to the world economy in the next 15 years. This machine to machine production concept will also eventually pass along savings to the consumer.
Those companies that make and distribute industrial components will also need to adjust their business model according to the new digitization of industry. Reports say that as the pace of this digitization speeds up, industries that want to stay profitable will need to change the kind of labor force they use favoring more workers who understand things like software and less on floor personnel.
Popular digital manufacturing concepts
One of the other important digital manufacturing concepts that will be popular in the future is the fact the technology used to drive this forward is green. In fact, predictions show there will actually be less energy used to produce a wide variety of consumer and other goods. In many models, there is even no waste as a by-product of the production process.
One of the big examples is the advancement in 3-D printing that can actually produce footwear and clothing. Customized garments in a number of different areas are today’s fiction but tomorrow’s reality. One of the other factors that is coming to light about how industrial supplies fit into manufacturing concepts has to do with the flexibility and new workforce needed. Beyond the requirements for specialized workers like engineers, this new industrial landscape will need to be flexible and able to change production schedules quickly and efficiently to keep up with the evolving consumer demands.
The entire concept behind all the innovations needed is being called Industry 4.0. Some of the biggest factors any company needs to consider to keep relevant are the kind of infrastructure and policy changes needed. This new digital manufacturing revolution will require new thinking to keep pace.
