The future of manufacturing
Manufacturing is enjoying a comeback around the world. There is heightened appreciation for its value as a source of “real” values. Siemens is supporting this trend and helping industrial companies become competitive in the global marketplace.
China International Marine Container (CIMC), an industrial company with 63,000 employees on six continents, manufactures tank containers, tank trucks, and pressure vessels for production plants at its Nantong location on the east coast of China.
From Michigan to Manchester, Delhi to Detroit and Beijing to Berlin, manufacturing is experiencing an unusually high level of appreciation on the part of policymakers and society in general. This has not always been the case. In the Western world in particular, the shift from manufacturing to service – from the old economy to the new economy – was strongly advocated for many years. Factories very quickly came to be regarded as relics from a previous age, and a job in industry was considered completely unappealing.
The future of manufacturing: a new way of producing
But now the tide is turning. In almost every country, the future of manufacturing is back on the agenda. The aim of governments is to maintain the competitiveness of their national economies or restore their local industrial bases. And companies are seeing this reversal as an opportunity.
Quality is more important than quantity for CIMC, which complies with the strictest international standards.
In recent years, certain trends have been identified in achieving these goals: the combination of high-performance software with state-of-the-art hardware and the digitization of product development and production. As a result, all process steps merge to form a whole.
This results in higher efficiency, shorter time-to-market and greater adaptability. Thanks to the significant productivity gains, labor and transport costs take a back seat. This benefits both Western markets and emerging economies. Western countries can produce competitively again, while emerging economies get the opportunity to manufacture efficiently and flexibly as they compete globally on a level playing field.
New production methods are also changing the skillsets demanded by industry, with companies increasingly looking for workers who can use software to manage complex processes. The coverall is being replaced by the tablet PC, and the traditional image of the blue-collar industrial worker is becoming a thing of the past.
The »virtual machine« at INDEX, a lathe manufacturer in Southern Germany, is a digital twin of the real machine.
Growth, stability and jobs
Policymakers and society are showing renewed interest in what industry creates: real values, security, jobs and social and political stability. Entire economies are rebuilding their secondary sectors, which are expanding constantly. After all, unlike the service sector, industry is immune to economic bubbles, creates well-paid jobs, guarantees growth and stability, and is the driver for the entire economy. That’s because every industrial job usually creates several further jobs, which are often closely linked to other economic sectors.
Companies around the world should already be preparing for the future of manufacturing
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