Posts Tagged ‘Manufacturing’
Go Agile with a Product Innovation Platform
Disruption is afoot in the manufacturing industry. But you already know that, whether you focus on consumer products or industrial applications. You also know that customer demands are shifting, production tools and techniques are evolving, and products are getting smarter. You know quite a bit, it seems. But do you know how to stay ahead…
Read MoreRobots in the Workforce: Automation is a New Era for Engineers
Since the dawn of manufacturing, designers and engineers have repeatedly run up against limitations to making things. Their ability to execute and capacity to afford bringing their ideas to market were once constrained by the manufacturing facility they had to find—either local or offshore—to build the things they wanted to build. But in a new…
Read MoreWhy a Design-Make-Use Convergence Means Better Products and a Healthier Planet
Before the Industrial Revolution, people’s shoes and clothes were made by hand—to their exact size—by local cobblers and tailors. Although that was something the middle class could afford, it was also exclusionary; the poorest people of the era owned only two or three outfits in their adult lifetimes (which they likely made themselves). With the…
Read MoreLights-Out Manufacturing: Future Fantasy or Good Business?
“Naturally, Man should want to stand on his own two feet … but how can he when his own machines cut the ground out from under him?” So states the teaser for Philip K. Dick’s short story “Autofac,” first published in the November 1955 issue of Galaxy magazine. The story revolves around a post-apocalyptic world where the…
Read MoreProduct Liability Law in Additive Manufacturing: 4 Tips to Make Sure You’re Covered
Additive manufacturing, a.k.a. 3D printing, is one of the most important advances in manufacturing, period. And with 3D printers becoming more available (and affordable) every day, anyone can become a manufacturer, from an engineering student making single parts to a startup hoping to sell millions of customizable products. The possibilities are exciting, but it’s also…
Read MoreThe Next Wave of Manufacturing Industry Trends
Time and technology wait for no one, especially when you’re talking about the ever-evolving, fast-paced world of hardware manufacturing. Not only are advances being made in materials and connectivity capabilities, but hardware VC firms and incubators such as Bolt and Lemnos Labs are flipping the script on the traditional way of doing business—from seed funding to expensive tools and…
Read MoreChanges in the Manufacturing Industry: What Product Companies Must Do to Survive
I’m talking about every product company in every industry—toys, medical devices, cars, electronics. . . . They’re all facing disruption, and it’s very real because what businesses used to do before will not help them survive in the near future. They have to keep evolving. Four Factors of Transformation. Before product companies can make the…
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