A great, short briefing paper from Deloitte – The Transformation of Manufacturing.
It’s worth quoting directly from it with regards what they see as the three key trends, as follows:
- “New production processes: New processes such as additive manufacturing (for instance, 3D printing) are influencing everything from product design to material selection to supply chain configuration. Additive manufacturing is already a $2 billion market globally.
- New materials: Advanced materials with high performance characteristics, such as carbon fiber composites, ceramics, and nanomaterials, are increasingly finding uses in large consumer-oriented markets such as automobiles, building materials, and clothing. Global demand for carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, for instance, is expected to grow 15 percent annually through 2020
- Digital manufacturing: A new generation of digital design and collaboration tools is enabling manufacturers to digitally simulate the appearance, performance, interoperability, and even manufacturability of products, saving time and money throughout the product development and production process”.
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