8 Technology

Trends in
Manufacturing
From Self-Driving Vehicles to
Wearable Tech
1
INTRO

MHI’s Annual Industry Report1 identifies emerging

technologies that have the potential to disrupt supply
chain and provide a greater source of competitive
advantage for organizations. Fortune 500 companies
in 1958 would stay on the index for an average of 61
years. By 2012, it was just 18 years.2 Organizations
must leverage technological advancements and adapt
business processes to survive changing demands in
the marketplace.

Below are eight technologies as outlined by MHI that

early adopters have already begun to incorporate into
manufacturing operations. These technologies and their
newfound capabilities will continue to develop and
propel the manufacturing sector into Industry 4.0—the
4th industrial revolution.

MHI and Deloitte, 2016 Industry Report: https://www.mhi.org/publications/report

1

2
Innosight, Creative Destruction Whips through Corporate America. 2012. https://www.
innosight.com/insight/creative-destruction-whips-through-corporate-america-an-innosight-ex-
2
ecutive-briefing-on-corporate-strategy/
PREDICTIVE
ANALYTICS
Predictive analytics is the modeling of data to identify
patterns that help businesses predict behaviors and
events, from inventory depletions, to machinery
breakdowns, to consumer trends.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• Review and leverage data to improve processes within
supply chain.
• Data will be used to forecast demand and reduce costs,
reduce customer attrition, or control inventory.

ROBOTICS AND
AUTOMATION
Robots are increasingly able to demonstrate “human-
like” traits with advanced sensing, dexterity, memory,
and trainability. They can now facilitate broader
applications spanning autonomous picking and
packaging, testing and inspecting products, and
assembling electronics.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• People are no longer required to be ‘in-the-loop’ for
certain tasks, enabling higher throughput and accuracy
for the facility, while decreasing operating costs.
• By incorporating advanced robotics, manufacturers
may be presented with opportunity to reshape current
business models and processes.

3
SENSORS AND AUTOMATIC
IDENTIFICATION
The combination of sensors, communication devices, servers,
analytics engines and devices enable the “Internet of Things”
(IoT). Sensors offer the ability to link the physical and cyber
worlds together.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• 2D, 3D, Sonar and LiDAR sensors deliver computing and
communications power to other devices, offering perception,
navigation and collaboration with other machines.
• By collecting and aggregating data from objects, sensors can
help users reach decisions about how to make, move, or change
those objects.

WEARABLES AND MOBILE

TECHNOLOGY
Wearable technologies are devices incorporated into clothing
and accessories that can be comfortably worn on the body.
They perform similar computing tasks as mobile phones/
computers, but tend to be more sophisticated than hand-held
technology because of sensory and scanning features.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• Enable the integration of augmented reality for simulated
equipment training, inventory tracking, or real-time process
monitoring.
• Headsets, glasses, and clothing will be interconnected with
existing systems to support voice or motion-directed commands
within facility.

4
SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES
AND DRONES
Driverless vehicles and aerial drones now offer onboard
intelligence, safety-certified sensors, machine learning, and
decision-making capabilities. These features increase use
cases and efficiency for the delivery of work-in-process parts
or finished goods.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• Drones, self-driving vehicles, and mobile collaborative
manipulators can be used to connect islands of automation
to support lean manufacturing practices.
• Technologies can be utilized to monitor plant operations,
maintain security, conduct smart material transport, and provide
real-time data updates on the facility, parts in transit or vehicle/
drone performance.

INVENTORY AND NETWORK

OPTIMIZATION TOOLS
Inventory and network optimization are powerful decision-support
tools to model end-to-end supply chain costs and trade-offs. Route
planning, product flow, path analysis, production analysis and
scheduling, and asset positioning can be improved with a well-
configured network.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• Insight from tools can help determine if supplier networks should
be reconfigured or if inventory should be reallocated to different
centers in order to save costs.
• Manufacturers can streamline operations, improve inventory
control, gain visibility, manage risk, and reduce costs by optimizing
assets and inventory positioning.

5
CLOUD COMPUTING AND
STORAGE
Cloud computing enables data sharing with multiple,
geographically dispersed partners or locations. The value of a
cloud-based platform is access across different systems; it can
be used across small, mid-sized and large enterprises.

Changes to Manufacturing
• Integrating multiple systems into the cloud enables real-time
communications between equipment (ERP), inventory (IMS), and
management (WMS), thus improving productivity.
• Multiple plants can access each other's’ reports, KPIs and overall
performance, creating seamless visibility across the organization
and instill best practices.

3D PRINTING
Additive manufacturing is when a substance is added in small
parts to create an item. Typically this is done through 3D printing,
which builds objects, layer upon layer, from 3D model data. The
process is typically faster and more cost effective than traditional
production methods.

Impacts in Manufacturing
• 3D Printing saves significant amounts of time during the product
design and development stage, eliminates scrap, and can reduce
costs across the total supply chain.
• Manufacturers can create intricate or complex designs that are
difficult to make through traditional methods.

6
x

THE FINAL
THOUGHT

By embracing these emerging technologies in supply

chain, manufacturers can achieve new heights in
productivity, efficiency, cost savings and facility visibility.
Machine-to-machine communication can occur in real-
time and continuously. This means that manufacturers
can expect higher throughput, dramatically improved
uptime, and lower operating costs. In essence,
implementing new technologies to improve existing
processes will optimize the supply chain. Innovation is
risk mitigation to ensure operations not only succeed in
a competitive and volatile landscape but also grow.

Discover how to get started with

Industry 4.0 technologies by
downloading “10 Step Guide to
Prepare for Industry 4.0.”

7
© 2016 OTTO Motors, a division of Clearpath Robotics Inc.
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