Computers in the Manufacturing Industry
Because they are readily available and inexpensive, computers have found widespread use in the modern manufacturing industry. According to estimates, the cost of a computer declines by 10% to 20% yearly, making them more affordable over time. Additionally, computers have one benefit over human labor. They can manufacture things of the same quality regardless of how much time is spent in a single manufacturing process since they do not experience tiredness or inconsistent performance. Averaging 30%, the computing and electronic sector of the economy has consistently experienced remarkable growth. Such growth is identified to have caused substantial impact in the level of increase of other manufacturing sectors (Hoper & Catalano, 2011).
The Changing Landscape of Manufacturing Sector
Realistically, the domination of the computing and electronics in real and nominal output in the American manufacturing sector is not healthy at all. A few years ago, the US used to be the largest producer and exporter of computer and electronics products across the world. But the trends have now changed to introduce new players into the market making the US the biggest importer of computers and their peripheral parts. Technological advancements in the manufacturing of equipment portion have also contributed to the production of highly sophisticated computing services and products which in turn improve the living standards of the people. However, these advancements are more likely to become applicable in other sectors of manufacturing cutting down human labor requirement in production activities (Fettweis, 2014).
The Impact of Computing and Electronics in Innovation
People still hold the view that the manufacturing sector is the main contributor to technological advancement, innovation, and creativity to the economy. However, in recent developments, these views hold true based on the improvements experienced in the computing and electronics market. On the other hand, the noncompeting portion ranks on average with other economic segments regarding the level of innovation. The impact that has been created by the computing and electronics segment is significant bearing in mind the tremendous growth the sector has experienced in the recent periods (Hoper & Catalano, 2011).
The Future of Manufacturing and Technological Innovation
The future of the manufacturing sector will heavily be determined by the amount of technology applied in a company's processes. Moreover, the potential of experiencing new manufacturing and production techniques is rising with every passing of a single day. The number of new patents issued to individual citizens and corporations reveals how fast the rate of technological innovation is growing. There is a strong need for the government to actively get involved in the manufacturing sector through the formulation of conducive macroeconomic policies; policies that will favor technological innovation and creativity. The most significant areas that have experienced rapid development include automation and robotics, material science and biotechnology, advanced design, additive manufacturing and much more (Guo & Leu, 2013).
The Role of Robotics and Automation in Manufacturing
The evolution of the robotics industry with the production of robots that can work alongside humans is identified to improve efficiency, productivity, and precision. Robots have got indulged in performing dangerous tasks such as heavy lifting and wielding ordinary workers cannot perform. These advancements have and will ensure that production activities get executed at the least costs possible. Moreover, human labor will no longer be required in most industrial operations thus reducing employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector of the economy. Manufacturing is furthermore an energy-intensive segment of the economy. With the availability of new technologies that increase energy supplies helps improve production activities as well as efficiency (Hoper & Catalano, 2011).
The Influence of Technological Advancements in Other Areas
Technological advancements in the extraction of natural gas and oil though not a manufacturing innovation, they actively complement the sector. Moreover, investment in the production of natural gas will reduce significantly the amount of gas imported from the Middle East and other oil producing countries. Such will help in reducing the amount of money spent on energy, and thus the funds will become available for utilization in other activities. Another area that has attracted greater interest and attention in the manufacturing sector relates to the development of the internet of things. Developments in computer and software have aided in improving the design of prototypes hence significantly reducing the costs incurred in research and development (Baily & Bosworth, 2014).
The Advantages of the Internet of Things in Manufacturing
The internet of things virtually has everything that a manufacturer may want including allowing flexibility to monitor and control production processes remotely. Moreover, all sensor readings will now be linked together to a network to permit issuance of operation instructions by operators. Apart from facilitating the easy management of production processes, the internet of things aids in the improvement of production efficiency. Additionally, companies can manage energy usage by heavily eliminating energy wastage (Mönch et al., 2011).
The Transformation of Manufacturing Processes
In the 1950s and 60s, the demand for high-tech products increased substantially increasing the pressure to improve their production efficiency to produce in large quantities to meet the demand for products; companies had to transform both their processes and manufacturing technologies. According to Christophe and David (2009), triggered by the actions of the cold war, a transformation into semiconductor production from experimental science was a significant achievement in the 50s. Out of the pressures, engineers had to come up with strategies and technologies that could more significantly meet the state and individual consumer needs.
Automation and its Role in Manufacturing
Parasuraman & Riley (1997) commit to define automation as the execution of functions that previously were performed by humans. The definition is likely to change in the long run as most of the operations referred to as automation will become machine functions. Additionally, automation is beneficial in relieving human beings of tiresome, risky, and problematic tasks. Organizational effectiveness and efficiency are slowed down by investment in labor-intensive methods of production due to the consumption of much of the production time. However, there are some functions in manufacturing such as creative thinking, planning, and decision-making that cannot fully become automated. In contrast, it is more likely that decision functions will become a role of machines as the level of technological innovation is so high (Parasuraman & Riley, 1997, p.231).
The Benefits and Challenges of Automation
Automation has received full application in most of the manufacturing functions in a bid to reduce chances of human error. Human error is mostly attributed to the overload of the brain with different operational tasks. Automating most of the functions will help reduce the mental workload workers are often subjected to, hence, eliminating chances of accidents arising out of mental stress. One important trait of an automated system is trust. If employees perceive the system to be trustable, they will apply it, but the converse is also true. However, overreliance on automation or use of technology can become detrimental if they fail since the operators do not concentrate on their functions. For example, overdependence on the automated flight systems was identified to be the cause of the plane crash accident 1973 (Parasuraman & Riley, 1997, p.239).
References
Baily, M. N., & Bosworth, B. P. (2014). US manufacturing: understanding its past and its potential future. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(1), 3-25.Christophe, N., & David, C.B. (2009). High Tech Manufacturing. History and Technology 25.3: 165-171.
Fettweis, G. P. (2014). The tactile internet: Applications and challenges. IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, 9(1), 64-70.
Guo, N., & Leu, M. C. (2013). Additive manufacturing: technology, applications and research needs. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 8(3), 215-243.
Hoper, M., & Catalano, J. (2011). Manufacturing technology is advancing rapidly-are you keeping up? Manufacturing Engineering, 147(4), 108-109.
Mönch, L., Fowler, J. W., Dauzère-Pérès, S., Mason, S. J., & Rose, O. (2011). A survey of problems, solution techniques, and future challenges in scheduling semiconductor manufacturing operations. Journal of Scheduling, 14(6), 583-599.
Parasuraman, R., & Riley, V. (1997). Humans and Automation: Use, Misuse, Disuse, Abuse. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 39(2), 230- 253.
