New Technology Drives New Jobs in Manufacturing Automation
It’s quite obvious that U.S Manufacturing is flourishing in 2013. Manufacturing is creating jobs and thus, is a huge factor for the prevalent economy. Individuals have been on the fence as to whether or not the US is experiencing a manufacturing and automation renaissance. One may believe this as there have been endless amounts of innovations developed over the past few months, such as the advancements in 3D printing, the development of 4D printing, robotics, and the list goes on. With this, factory automation will evolve.
Goldman Sach’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, begs to differ. He believes that this manufacturing renaissance is cyclical, not structural, as most of us in manufacturing automation can attest to. This means that this increase was expected and predicted due to economic recovery. With manufacturing comes economic increase as it creates jobs and opportunities in factory automation, and thus, positively effects the nation’s wealth. We must not forget that Europe is currently experiencing a debt crisis, as well as the weakness in Japan’s economy, which causes the U.S. to look even more triumphant.
All these jobs being created in the manufacturing realm have to do with the creation of these new technologies and developments in factory automation. Yes, robotics are prevalent and are taking over the manufacturing world; however, this can only create more jobs rather than the initial belief that jobs will be taken away. With new technologies comes new responsibilities, thus, new skills that individuals need to possess in order to keep the company running effectively.
To read more about the validity of this manufacturing automation renaissance check out this article: http://business.time.com/2013/03/28/is-the-u-s-manufacturing-renaissance-real/
Manufacturing Tax Incentives
The manufacturing economy has been quite prevalent throughout the beginning of 2013. It was a major topic in Obama’s State of the Union Address, and has been pinpointed as a major contributor to the economy. Plenty of companies, universities, and organizations have been working together over the past few months to ensure that 2013 is the year of Manufacturing.
Thus, the United States has decided to incorporate a tax incentive to help promote manufacturing. The Domestic Activities Production Deduction tax incentive is already in place. The deduction is 9% of your qualified production activities income and it can extend to more than just manufacturing. Incentives like this need to be in place to help promote manufacturing in North America rather than off-shoring. Not all ideas of incentives are necessarily good; their is talk of incorporating higher taxes for individuals who do choose to offshore, thus making it more cost-efficient to manufacture in the United States. Many countries have already incorporated a tax increase for offshoring, such as India. it makes one wonder when America will decide to follow suit.
Ask nicely and they may even get your coffee…
Gone are the days where robots and humans didn’t work together. New technological innovations have made it possible for humans and robots to work alongside one another in factory settings. People can thank new algorithms and improved sensing technologies that have now created the gentler robot.
These new robots can adjust based on what the humans want – allowing them to tweak their movements while actively working. The robots can predict what will happen next and can even assist humans on the assembly line. This is due to a new technique called cross-training, which allows robots to exchange roles with one another and learn from other’s abilities. The robots can gather information not only from other robots, but from observing how humans perform a task. It takes in the individual’s preferences as they perform and adjusts to work harmoniously aside them. This process allowes idle time to significantly drop and productivity to increase.
This is certainly very important as humans step out of the factory floor and more robots replace them. Showing that robots can work together, learn from one another, and even adjust throughout their processes to become more productive demonstrates that the future is hopeful for manufacturing.
To read more about the gentler robot check out the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/business/robots-and-humans-learning-to-work-together.html?_r=0
Printing our world: 3D printing comes of age
3D Printing seems to be all the rave in manufacturing lately. They have announced amazing advancements, such as the ability to print large items like cars, to printers that can make micro items that aren’t even visible to the naked eye. One of the newest hot topics seems to be the discovery that 3D printers can print guns. With 3D printing becoming more mainstream, and thus, more accessible, does this mean that the ideology of ‘liberty’ may grow? If an individual owns a 3D printer the world could literally be at their feet to print any item they may desire.
With all the amazing innovation surrounding 3D printing, it’s amazing that no one has really stepped back and thought about how it may affect the future. The potential of where 3D printing could take us didn’t seem that drastic when we first thought that it could only print plastics. However, with recent discoveries unveiling that 3D printers can print in metals and even human cartilage, this surely opens up a few doors.
3D printing is amazing, but even more intriguing are the new discoveries coming out from MIT about the up and coming 4D printing. 4D printing gives materials the ability to reprogram and self-assemble into new structures. This would thus give synthetic materials the ability to mimic organic structures, such as plants.
It is no secret that 3D as well as 4D printing are certainly reformatting the manufacturing world. With so many discoveries surfacing over the past few months, it makes one wonder what other advancements they will make in the future. Where can printing take us next?
Manufacturing’s Second Wind
In the last blog we discussed the revitalization of manufacturing. However, since the posting it seems like anyone and everyone is talking about the detailed plan of attack for the next industrial revolution. So it seems as though it is almost necessary to outline what the United States plans on doing to give manufacturing its second wind in 2013.
President Obama is looking to focus a lot of energy on Manufacturing. He outlined how he would bring this sector back to life in the USA at the State of the Union Address last week. It was noted that last year Obama declared he was going to start up 15 institutes focusing on manufacturing across the country. He asked for a one time fund of 1 billion dollars to establish these 15 centres.
Obama plans to use these 15 institutes to work off the strengths that are prevalent in different US regions. He hopes that by bringing together influential organizations, such as universities, colleges, local government or manufacturing companies, they may be able to work as one force to build up the manufacturing realm.
This makes one wonder what strengths the United States may hold in manufacturing and what regions may be able to carry these strengths on its shoulders. Are there enough power houses in the United States to successfully revitalize manufacturing through fifteen different projects? We’ll just have to wait and see the plan unfold, then watch how the United States follows through.
To read more about Obama’s State of the Union address check out the article here
