Robotics, AI​​ and 3D printing could close UK's productivity gap
Angela Monaghan for The Guardian: Expanding hi-tech manufacturing is vital to the UK staying competitive, says Siemens UK boss Juergen Maier
Optimism Down Among Small Manufacturers
Xometrys Small Manufacturing Index finds fewer shops anticipating growth
New Research Could Help Speed Up the 3D Printing Process
Binghamton University for R&D Magazine: A team of researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York and MIT have identified some bottlenecks in 3D printers, that, if improved, could speed up the entire process.
Closing US Manufacturing Trade Deficit Would Create 1.3M Jobs, Says Tech Think Tank
The prevailing narrative says automation was the main culprit behind U.S. manufacturing job losses in the early 2000s, and that automation is now powering an unprecedented manufacturing technology revolution that will continue to displace jobs. But a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) finds that both of these claims are false.
ITIF, a leading tech-policy think tank, finds that trade pressure and faltering U.S. competitiveness were responsible for more than two-thirds of the 5.7 million manufacturing jobs lost between 2000 and 2010. And rather than entering a "fourth industrial revolution," U.S. manufacturing productivity growth is actually near an all-time low. In light of these facts, ITIF concludes that U.S. policymakers should aim to close the country's trade deficit in manufactured goods by fighting foreign mercantilism and pursuing a national competitiveness agenda that hinges in part on boosting manufacturing productivity rates. The report estimates that successfully closing the manufacturing goods trade deficit this way would create 1.3 million jobs. Full Press Release:
Manufacturers raise investment in next-gen tech, survey says
Dustin Walsh for Crain's Detroit Business: U.S. manufacturers are rapidly boosting investment in advanced digital technologies, according to a survey to be released Monday by Troy-based technology business association Automation Alley. The survey coincides with the association's 2017 Technology Industry Outlook event on Feb. 13 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Nearly 400 manufacturing and technology business leaders are expected to attend.
According to the survey, 85 percent of U.S. manufacturing executives responded they plan to increase existing budgets for new technologies, with nearly a third planning to increase budgets by up to 15 percent. More than half of the respondents said they have a dedicated budget to technologies described as Industry 4.0, with the top three being cloud, cybersecurity and data analytics. Cont'd...
Manufacturers most upbeat in two years, ISM survey shows
Jeffrey Bartash for MarketWatch: American manufacturers finished 2016 on a wave of optimism, as a survey of executives hit the highest level in two years. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index climbed to 54.7% in December from 53.2%, slightly higher than the MarketWatch forecast. Any number above 50% signals expansion.
The index is compiled from a survey of executives who order raw materials and other supplies for their companies. The gauge tends to rise or fall in tandem with the health of the economy.
New orders and production surged in the final month of the year and plans for employment also edged higher. Bradley Holcomb, chairman of the ISM survey committee, said comments from executives were largely positive. Cont'd...
YCF - 2017 could be year of smart factory
Katie Mallinson for B Daily: 2017 could be the year of the smart factory. That’s the opinion of Huddersfield-based YCF – the not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting the manufacturing industry and its supply chain.
The statement follows months of speculation around Industry 4.0 – the idea of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technology.
Simply, it’s the computerisation of manufacturing, involving systems that communicate with each other, monitor physical processes and make decisions. And YCF’s CEO Jill Mooney thinks that 2017 could be the year that manufacturers start to plan the implementation of such machinery. Cont'd...
US Manufacturers Too Slow to Adopt Industry 4.0: BCG Study
Industry Week: U.S. manufacturers recognize the potential of the digital technologies known collectively as Industry 4.0 to create value, but they are largely approaching the opportunity in piecemeal fashion and may miss out on the significant business benefits these technologies offer, according to new research from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Nearly 90% of manufacturing leaders surveyed by BCG regarded adopting Industry 4.0 technologies as a way to improve productivity, but only about one in four see opportunities to use these advances to build new revenue streams. Many are pursuing isolated initiatives scattered throughout the company, BCG found in its new report, "Sprinting to Value in Industry 4.0," without a clear vision and coordination from the top. Cont'd...
Brookings Report - America's advanced industries: New trends
Brookings Report: Â Leaders in cities, metropolitan areas, and states across the country continue to seek ways to reenergize the American economy in a way that works better for more people. To support those efforts, this report provides an update on the changing momentum and geography of Americas advanced industries sector-a group of 50 R&D- and STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics)-worker intensive industries the vitality of which will be essential for supporting any broadly shared prosperity in U.S. regions.
What emerges from the update is a mixed picture of progress and drift that registers continued momentum in the manufacturing sub-sector; a major slump in energy; and strong, widely distributed growth in high-tech services- all of which adds up to a somewhat narrowed map of growth overall. Â Cont'd.. .
Industrial digitisation on fast track
The New Indian Express: In a move to build the digital enterprise, the digitisation in industrial sector is set to grow to 65 percent in the next five years as it is a priority of most CEOs in the industry, according to a PwC report.
According to PwC Industry 4.0 report, more than half of the industrial companies in India are using data analytics and over 90 per cent expect data to impact their decision-making in five years.
Globally, digitisation is expected to rise to 72 per cent from 33 per cent, the report noted.
It is also noted that around 39 percent of the companies plan to invest more than 8 percent of their annual revenues in digital programmes in the next five years. Cont'd...
Manufacturing Productivity Growth Slows to Crawl Worldwide
Strong Dollar Compounds the Damage to U.S. Competitiveness
Companies, employees not quite ready for cognitive technology wave of robotics, AI, machine learning
Larry Dignan for Between the Lines: Robots, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other cognitive technologies will replace about 7 percent of U.S. jobs by 2025 with office and administrative staff taking the biggest hit, according to a Forrester Research forecast.
The bad news is jobs will be lost. The good news is that new gigs will be created as cognitive technology takes hold. One reason the disruption won't be larger or happen sooner is that companies aren't ready for the change related to the new automated workforce, said Forrester.
Among the key items:
16 percent of U.S. jobs will be replaced, but 9 percent of jobs will be created. That's how Forrester gets to the 7 percent job loss by 2025 figure.
Emerging jobs will be robot monitoring pros, data scientists, automation specialists and content curators.
93 percent of automation technologists feel unprepared to take on smart machine technologies.
83 percent saw cognitive computing as critical to their companies' future.
32 percent of respondents said they are prepared for the cognitive technology changes ahead, but only 12 percent are prepared to deal with the human and organizational fallout.
46 percent say the number of jobs will remain about the same and 43 percent of respondents thought jobs would decline.
Full Article:
Global Manufacturers Investing Heavily To Take The Manufacturing Floor High-Tech: KPMG Survey
Many devoting significant R&D budget towards robotics;
A quarter say they have already invested in AI and cognitive computing technologies
U.S. Cutting Tool YTD Consumption Down 4.1% in November
November U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $153.7 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
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