This book has provided an overview of the essentials of manufacturing industry. However, although the basic concepts have remained fairly constant; for example, forging metals for directional strength properties or minimising the time from product design to market; it is worth concluding with a comment on a few of the relatively recent concepts and technologies that are having a strong impact on the industry. It should be understood that advances in technology will continue so that what is regarded as the present will certainly be regarded as historical very soon, the comments relating to the future are entirely speculative.

Two closely related terms are widely used today to convey the current state of manufacturing, these are Industry 4.0 and The Fourth Industrial Revolution. In one respect it can be said that the only Industrial Revolution was the one that started in the eighteenth century, see Chapter 2, and everything since then has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. However, the terms serve here as a framework for describing some relatively recent developments that are significantly influencing manufacturing industry. Originally used in Germany near the beginning of the twenty‐first century the term Industry 4.0 relates to the integration of cyber‐physical systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Services in order to create Smart Factories. The term fourth Industrial Revolution is in more general usage and is similar to Industry 4.0 but tends to have broader scope in that it also includes the broader social and technological implications such as employment and autonomous vehicles. What they have in common is recognition of the fact that many technologies are now providing new opportunities for wealth creation and their potential is boosted by the possibilities of integration provided by the Internet. Some of these technologies particularly related to manufacturing are now briefly considered.

29.1 Additive Manufacturing

Already covered in Chapter 13, this method of manufacturing is constantly improving in range of materials, precision, speed and product size. It is currently suitable for single or very low volume customised product manufacture but is unsuitable for large batch and mass production. It has also found many applications outside those of traditional manufacturing and prototype creation; for example, dentistry, surgery, sculpture, jewellery, clothing and footwear. Small relatively low cost domestic and hobby systems have become popular and can be found in homes, schools and other teaching establishments. In the future, the ability to combine increasingly different materials will allow more sophisticated products to be created using this technology. For example, combining electronic, optical and mechanical elements could allow customised and personalised mechatronic devices to be manufactured. Also, by manipulating matter at the nanometre and atomic level completely new materials and products could be created with applications in medicine, engineering, food production and electronics.

29.2 Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

Mentioned briefly in Chapter 4, augmented and virtual reality (VR) are part of the mixed reality continuum. At one end of the continuum we have the real world environment and at the other end we have VR – a completely computer generated environment. By using an appropriate display system, such as a tablet computer or glasses equipped with a small screen or projection system, it is possible to superimpose computer generated information or images onto the real world, this is augmented reality (AR). It is also possible to superimpose real world images into the virtual environment and this is called augmented virtuality.

AR, although not widespread in manufacturing, is used in a number of situations. For example, it can be used in assembly training where the correct assembly sequence and torque information can be provided to an operator inserting bolts into an aircraft frame. This is done by presenting the information, which may be text or video, into the field of view of the operator via the tablet or AR glasses. The images seen by the operator can be coordinated with the real world through registration and distance calibration of the area of concern with the augmented images. AR can also be used in product design with a number of product designers able to look at a virtual model of the product in the real world space. Through the use of on board position and orientation sensors on the tablet or glasses each designer can see the virtual model from their own perspective. By the use of gloves containing similar sensors it is also possible to manipulate the virtual model in real time.

VR is usually considered as an immersive experience and can be used by product designers to examine a proposed design and its position within an artificial environment. The user of such a system will use a head mounted display that has two small video displays one of which will show the image as seen by the left eye and the other showing the image as seen by the right eye thus providing a stereoscopic image. Again the system user can manipulate objects in the virtual world through the use of gloves containing location and orientation sensors. Although not yet common in design applications, the gloves can also include small haptic actuators to provide a sense of touch for the object manipulation. The head mounted display may also have headphones to enhance the immersive experience.

In order to experience the sensation of being inside a design, for example, the interior layout of a submarine, a CAVE (Cave Automated Virtual Environment) can be used. This is a cube like room located within a larger workspace that is comprised of three or four walls, a ceiling and floor. Stereoscopic images are displayed on these surfaces, either through back projection or on flat panel displays in such a manner that the user is completely surrounded by the images in what appears as a seamless immersive environment. The user will normally wear stereo glasses that may be polarising, shutter or anaglyph depending on the display type. These systems are expensive relative to head mounted display enabled VR and are therefore only found in some Universities, research institutions and very large commercial companies with design departments.

In the future volumetric imaging systems will be of great use to product designers who will be able to view and manipulate a virtual three dimensional model without the aid of any special eyewear or hand held screen. A volumetric image would exist in real world space, it would appear solid and edges and surfaces that would be occluded in a physical model would also be occluded in the volumetric image. A number of technologies today approach this. For example, one type has a helical screen spinning at high speed in a vacuum and by using carefully controlled laser beams impinging on the surface an apparently solid image is created through persistence of vision. Another type uses an array of fast spinning light emitting diodes (LEDs) to achieve a similar effect. Other technologies are available but none can yet produce a full colour volumetric image indistinguishable from a physical model. The main problem with achieving the image is that of physics – how to create the three dimensional equivalent of pixels, that is, voxels, in a seemingly empty space.

29.3 Immersive Telepresence

Today the term ‘telepresence’ is commonly used to describe an advanced form of what was called ‘teleconferencing’ using high bandwidth telecommunication links. As well as being useful for general business meetings, telepresence is also ideal for collaborative product design. Large screen displays, which may be flat panel or back projected, show conference participants from different geographical locations in life size images. These images are arranged to give the impression of all participants being around a similar conference table. Eye contact is not normally possible as the cameras at each location are not able to be located at the same position on the screen of the eyes of the participants. Methods of attempting to overcome this can include the use of half silvered mirrors or mounting cameras at eye level behind pinholes on the displays but these are not very successful.

Immersive telepresence however has the connotation of allowing system users to feel completely immersed in a remote real world environment. This would therefore include displays that provide stereoscopic vision, binaural hearing and haptic, cutaneous and olfactory sensation. The important eye contact for personal communication as in a conference would also be possible. Also by using remote mechatronic systems with actuators responding to the system user's movements, and with appropriate sensors such as stereoscopic cameras and binaural microphones, then remote immersive tele‐operated working could take place. No systems are available yet to provide all of these features in an integrated manner but by combining potential future developments in AR, VR, volumetric imaging, sensors and robotics fully immersive telepresence is a distinct possibility.

29.4 Communications Technologies and the IoT

Wireless, fibre‐optic cable, satellites, standardisation of communication protocols and computer technology have all led to the ability to transmit information reliably and almost instantaneously across any distance. This is manifested most effectively in the Internet where all types of networks, such as factory wide networks, telephone networks and home networks can all be interconnected. The World Wide Web operating on the Internet provides the opportunity for everyone connected to the Internet to share personal or commercial information. The fact that this communication infrastructure is now ubiquitous throughout the world's industrialised countries has opened up the opportunity for the interconnectedness of everyone and everything with access to the Internet. Thus, in manufacturing industry, equipment within a factory will not only be part of the local factory network but will also be capable of being integrated into the global network. Individual machines may be equipped with automatic inspection systems linked to statistical quality control algorithms that can provide real time information on machine and quality performance to a parent company that may be in a different country. This of course assumes the machines have been equipped with the necessary sensors and communication interfaces.

Interconnectedness through the Internet allows the following scenarios to be possible where the manufacturer is very closely integrated into their supply chain both upstream and downstream. Consider a manufacturer of a relatively low volume consumer product that is sold in a large store. Downstream from the manufacturer the sale of the product is monitored by the store and this is registered in the store's computer system where it will be compared with the current stock levels. Using an algorithm that includes an action point when a minimum stock level is reached the system will send a message to the supplier's warehouse to provide more stock. The warehouse system with knowledge of the lead time required for replenishing its stock will then send a message to the manufacturer's factory system to produce more of the product in a specific number based on the previous and anticipated future sales. In a smart factory this can all occur autonomously with the information being transferred down through various levels until it reaches individual machines such as industrial robots and automated guided vehicles on the factory shop floor. Using this information the factory can then assess its own stock levels of raw materials and automatically request additional materials from upstream suppliers in the supply chain. In other situations the downstream supply chain can extend to individual consumers with smart refrigerators that note when the last of an item is being removed. The fridge may then send a message through the home router asking if the consumer wishes to replenish the item. If the answer is yes then it can place an order upstream with the supermarket – and so the process will then continue down to the food manufacturer. These are examples of the ‘Internet of Things’ and how it contributes to efficiency in the manufacturing supply chain.

29.5 Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing allows companies of any type to access information and communication technology (ICT) software, hardware and services over the Internet. This facility is a ‘cloud’ and is provided by a third party thus allowing companies to focus on their core businesses while the necessary ICT is provided for them. The company pays the cloud provider for these services and will access them through their own computer systems. The cloud can store and process data for companies and can gather data from many sources on a global scale. It allows companies to keep their IT infrastructure to a minimum thus streamlining their operation. As the cloud services are shared by many users security issues have to be carefully addressed to ensure commercial data is kept confidential and is not corrupted intentionally or unintentionally.

29.6 Big Data Analytics

Big data analytics refers to the activity of gathering very large, varied and timely data from multiple sources relevant to a company's areas of interest. These data are processed and analysed to enable intelligent decision making leading to increases in profits and more satisfied customers. Closely related to this is the term ‘predictive analytics’. This relates to the statistical analysis of historical and new data in order to identify trends in, for example, production quality, customer requirements and costs of raw materials.

In manufacturing Big Data can be used for quality management of the production process by identifying trends in the quality of the components and products being produced. This can be done in real time based on information coming from sensors in the machines on the shop floor. This in itself is not ‘big data’ as automated statistical quality control techniques have being doing this for some time. However, by combining this data with other data from the company's ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system (see Chapter 23) correlations can be found between factors such as personnel, time of day or machine maintenance records. Just as monitoring of the data from the machines on the shop floor can be used to facilitate preventive maintenance programmes the principle can also be applied to non‐factory equipment such as jet engines, locomotives and emergency portable power generating equipment. The use of wireless communication means that data from equipment anywhere in the world can be monitored and analysed.

Big data can also be used for simulating possible new manufacturing layouts and processes based on anticipated customer demand and production capacity. Production schedules can be optimised based on a combination of customer requirements, supplier capabilities, machine and labour availability and budget constraints. It can be used for analysing factory performance across a wide range of measurable parameters and correlating these to look for cause and effect relationships between them. For example, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company has used Big Data to analyse process interdependencies in order to increase successful yield values for vaccine production. A company that produced products to order used Big Data to analyse customer behaviour in order to significantly reduce manufacturing lead times. And a microprocessor manufacturing company used Big Data predictive analytics to reduce the number of tests carried out during quality assurance checks.

29.7 Conclusion

Throughout this book, I have attempted to provide the essential elements of manufacturing industry. There is much more to manufacturing both in depth and breadth and I hope that you will be able to pursue many of the facets mentioned here in more detail. While civilisation exists manufacturing industry will exist no matter the condition of the global economy. As labour rates, transport costs, material availability and political environments change throughout the world so the centres of manufacturing will move and fluctuate. New discoveries in physics and chemistry will produce new technologies for products and manufacturing processes. Consumers will demand more customised products to suit individual specifications. Automation and artificial intelligence will reduce the requirements for certain types of worker but will create demand for other skills and expertise. The need for products for both the developed and developing countries will ensure that manufacturing industry will continue as a major wealth creator and therefore as source of finance for improving the quality of life for everyone.