The manufacturing sector is usually a frontrunner when it comes to making use of emerging technologies and trends. Keeping an eye on this business sector is often a good way of keeping ahead of the curve and looking at the technologies and trends that may be applicable to your own needs. For any business, keeping ahead of the competition is essential, and by learning to spot the trends before your competitors, you could keep yourself one step ahead of them and reap the rewards. There are have been some exciting changes to the manufacturing industries in 2018, and these three have been the stand-out trends with long-term staying power.
A deluge of data
It’s not just the manufacturing sector that is embracing the concept of big data. In fact, many businesses looking at the potential benefits of data, and if you’re not already doing so, then you need to start. Data is now at the core of the manufacturing process, with market leaders using their accumulated data points to conduct the following:
- Streamline business process
- Design new products
- Meet consumer expectations
One of the reasons why data is fast becoming the must-have tool of the business world is that by gathering real-time data, it is possible to look ahead and meet expectations before they are even fully realised. When even the accumulation of your data can be performed with a fully automated system, it might be time to start looking at just how data can improve your world.
The joy of automation
Although it’s safe to say that manufacturing is not new to automation (just look at Henry Ford), it has never before been so mass-utilised. Automation has an ever-increasing variety of uses in a manufacturing environment, and those companies that have embraced the technologies, such as utilizing business process automation software, for example, have shown that it is fast becoming an essential element to daily management.
Even simple processes like the design of printed circuit boards can now be automated, with applications like applications like Eagle PCB able to quickly create and build complex circuit boards that look tidy and function more efficiently. It’s clear that automation is the key to business growth in 2018, and as we head into 2019, that trend is going nowhere.
Destroying infrastructure
The office space is a vastly different environment to what it was even a short decade ago. Modern technology continues to be transformative, and that can be felt across the manufacturing sector. When slow companies are still struggling to make the transition to paperless offices, trendsetters are looking at how essential that office space is. In the digital age, the office is becoming almost irrelevant, with remote working and satellite workers fast becoming the new normal. Why pay for office space when the bulk of your work entails factory floor supervision? When your marketing team can be anywhere in the world and remain in touch for large meetings in real time, then it’s no surprise that manufacturing companies are reducing their expenses and dropping the office infrastructure in its entirety.
Although keeping ahead of trends is often a challenge, knowing that the manufacturing sector is often ahead of the game gives you an advantage. Learn to spot the emerging trends, and you could be adopting them long before they become the standard.