Manufacturing platforms are a cutting-edge technology that, when combined with other disruptive technologies such as machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Goods (IoG), and 3D printing, could revolutionize the manufacturing industry as we know it.
But what’s actually involved in this leap to digital factories, and what does it mean for traditional industrial manufacturing methods?
What Are Manufacturing Platforms?
Manufacturing platforms are pieces of software that fill specific needs within an industrial environment. These platforms may be used to extract data from equipment, for example, or connect devices. Manufacturing platforms can serve many purposes, just as other platforms — like social media platforms — are able to.
One increasingly popular form of manufacturing platform offers a decentralized, factoryless method of production that is highly scalable. With platforms such as Xometry and 3D Hubs, users are able to upload an object and receive manufacturing feasibility information and price quotes within minutes — a huge improvement from the days or weeks these processes have typically consumed.
How Do Manufacturing Platforms Work?
Manufacturing platforms work based on their size — the more connections and options, the better — and their technological robustness. Some manufacturing platforms are now introducing manufacturability algorithms, which can be bolstered by machine learning.
These algorithms can help quickly determine if an item can be manufactured by the equipment connected to the platform, how, and at what cost. On some manufacturing platforms, this assessment can be completed and the product can enter production without delay — without ever having to speak to a human representative.
What Benefits Do Manufacturing Platforms Offer?
Manufacturing platforms offer multiple benefits, which is why they are predicted to majorly disrupt the manufacturing sector, much in the same way social media platforms disrupted the ways in which we communicate and socialize. Manufacturing platforms enable highly scalable, outsourced production without the need for factories, and are accessible to massive companies and tiny entrepreneurial ventures alike. Similarly, without a need for prototype creation or lengthy price negotiations, entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world can quickly create their products and then access the global marketplace.
Consumer-side customizability is another major benefit, allowing customers to make desired changes to their products and order them to be made directly from a factory or producer.
How Will Manufacturing Platforms Be Used in the Future?
Manufacturing platforms are likely to continue gaining traction, with increasing complexity and a broader range of features. Competition, too, will increase. Machine learning will continue to speed up the design process as feedback becomes more readily available from both manufacturers and consumers. More people will have the ability to bring their products to market, with reduced overhead.
Manufacturing platforms may even make the traditional factory as we know it a thing of the past, as we become able to cherry-pick producers that best suit our needs.
Just as with social media, only time will tell which, if any, manufacturing platform becomes the most popular and robust, but there is little doubt that manufacturing platforms as a whole will change the manufacturing industry in various ways.
