Over the last 20
years, the world’s biggest technological advancements have not only helped
shape our cultural landscape, but rapidly changed the way business and the
manufacturing process are conducted. Businesses can now perform more
efficiently, and cost effectively, than ever before. The use of technology has
leas to lower production costs and therefore more affordable products on the
whole too.
Where once the
manufacturing process was undertaken by hand (‘manu’ literally translates to
mean ‘using hands’) today robot-like technology performs many of the
manufacturing tasks completed in every sector. Work has become hugely
automated, and although machinery cannot make creative decisions, there is much
that can be done by technology that increases productivity tenfold.
The first
manufacturing processes effected by technology happed in Europe’s Industrial
Revolution, where the cotton gin was used to increase yield and machines were
used in mills to make clothe from the cotton.
Today the biggest
technological advances can be seen in those industries that work with heavy
goods; robot like machines can now improve the assembly lines and produce
products more efficiently and at a much greater speed. Manufacturing and
business output today isn’t limited to the factory floor however, it should be
thought of as an ‘activity’ rather than a sector and this activity differs
widely across every industry.
Office work has
become more efficient too, the increased use of computers have made businesses
more profitable than ever before with faster communication and the ability to
get administrative tasks done in half the time.
In retail,
machinery has allowed for mass production on a huge scaled. It means
manufacturing costs can be kept low and retailers can buy phones, MP3 players
and DVD players at unimaginably low prices. This means greater profit for them
at the consumer end.
Businesses are now
using technology to streamline the pre-manufacturing stages too; computer can aid
design and 3d printing has revolutionised the way companies can produce
prototypes. 3D printing is also extremely advantageous for the medical
industry, where blood vessels and bone structure can now even be replicated
through the help of this technology.
It seems there is
no industry’s manufacturing process that hasn’t been effected by technological
improvements. The automotive and aerospace industries have all increased output
tremendously since the creation of tube end forming and metal pressing machinery.
Without the computer tech we have today, it is likely that engineering would
have completely stagnated, with few new developments.
The really is no question that
manufacturing has been enhanced in many ways thanks to the latest technology,
but just how things have been improved is ever changing. New technologies are
arising on a regular basis, companies now need to adapt on a much more frequent
basis – buying into the latest software and machinery which will help them to
become the most efficient in their field. Of course it becomes a productive
circle too, as manufacturing advances so can the production of the latest
technologies! It is for this reason that the modern world is developing at such
a staggering rate.
