The new phase of the Market
will be characterized by a new production mode that
“Revolutionizes” the current methods: Smart Manufacturing.
The current conception of Industry 4.0 does not represent a real innovation at all. It is necessary to take note of the fact that a new trend is developing truly disruptive from the point of view of the Product and the Production/Distribution phases: rather than Industry 4.0 one should speak of Manufacturing 4.0, or Smart Manufacturing.
<see Manufacturing 4.0, the misunderstanding on the term Industry 4.0>
Significant technological trends
The new phase of Smart Manufacturing can be developed because in the Market today there are new trends and new technological tools such as:
● Open Knowledge allows to distribute the knowledge of Man (allowing to go beyond the Age of specialized culture). In this new dimension it is possible, among other things, Smart Manufacturing (with Production with Franchising-Transplant Factories in “distribuited infrastructure” that re-launch local economies – and define a Glocal dimension of the market).
● ICT (and IoT), crowfunding, blockchain (Smart Contracts), etc …
Other factors that allow access to post-industrial production forms are: Smart Manufacturing are Additive Manufacturing, Makers mode, Open Design, Open standard.
< see ”Innovation in the new post-industrial Market – Manufactory 4.0″
< see “How will the new phase of Industry actually be (4.0)” in “Smart Manufacturing, the misunderstanding on the term Industry 4.0” >
The characteristics of the Smart manufacturing
Some qualities of the new production mode Smart Manufacturing:
● flexibility of production systems:
production methods are extremely flexible thanks to the characteristics of the equipment (and production) compared to those of the post-industrial phase. These characteristics are, among other things: ≈ the low cost of the structures ≈ their modularity and ease of management and modification (can also be developed by non-specialized personnel: the new equipment is light, quick to install, and can to be largely produced by the same company or hired) ≈ the effectiveness of software for logistics management (internal and external) ≈ the new ways of developing the “value chain” (this is replaced by the Value Web).
Thanks to these production methods, today a company can make radically different productions on the same day.
● immediate and economic start-up:
The flexibility and ease of installation, management and modification of the “production lines” (and their extreme cost-effectiveness) make it possible to quickly create “scratch” companies: this makes it possible to follow the Demand “on time real” (take into account that in the new dimension investments are not very high, thanks to the possibility of self-producing equipment, and to rent them).
In the Smart Manufacturing mode it is even possible to create temporary production workshops, taking advantage of the availability of “sheds” no longer used by the traditional industry (by hiring the equipment the creation of a Smart Workshop is not much more demanding than setting up a complex event).
The characteristics of the new forms of production allow Companies in crisis to re-propose themselves with new types of products: take into account that the new production methods are based on creation, primarily at local level, of networks of companies and professionals who can now operate in highly integrated way (thanks also to new logistics management software, and to the connectivity of production equipment).
● Proximity business (Production/Distribution): in the new scenario the two activities are integrated, and a localization of production will be developed (a widespread production, ie a decentralization of Production, will take place).
There will be a strongly localized production that, from the point of view of Social impact, will improve, among other things the level of employment, and therefore contribute to a reorganization of local economies (which, basically, are the core base of the global economy).
An important point: in this dimension the money spent by the buyer remains at the local level – the entrepreneur can pay salaries and invest in new activities on the territory – generating a virtuous circle.
The new global market will be formed
by a system of local markets integrated into it.
The key qualities of the new Proximyty business are, among others: greater economy and ecological (transport is avoided), disintermediation (lower costs, possibility of involving the User to develop tailor made solutions).
<see “New Production / Distribution methods: Franchising-Transplant Factories” >
< see “The real conception of Glocal“ >
● time to market – the new production methods allow to have a high level of flexibility to the point that a company in few hours can change a production line substantially to produce completely different products (renting parts of the equipment).
In this way it is possible to produce following in real time the demand (it is produced On Demand, that is: it is possible to set a production line for a specific product product only when there are orders from the Customer).
Prototyping becomes very simple.
.
The advantages for the consumer are, among others: lower prices and customizable product.
The pre-requisites to be developed
To be able to develop an effective Smart Manufacturing, we have to define:
● new rules – the National and International Laws must be reviewed in order to favor (at least not to disadvantage) truly innovative solutions (see the problems encountered by Uber, AirbnB, etc.).
For Mobility, for example, it is necessary to define new rules for regulating car ownership (ie favoring multi-ownership and sharing) , methods of insurance and taxation (for example, bringing it to the “per use” mode), etc. < see LiteMotive Project >
Many of these new rules can be based on the introduction of the Blockchain mode, which allows users to contract “smart contracts” (among them, with private services and with the Public Administration).
● open standards – the real innovation (disruptive) flourishes where there are more contributions to realize the finished product (also by very small Sart Up).
For example, for Automotive (where a fork of production is foreseen – see “Automotive: beyond the automotive”), new highly innovative cars can be built by constructing them in local Smart Manufacturing mode assembling third-party components in Open Standard frames (also of small Start Up) < see Transplant factories, in “Manufactory 4.0 e Franchising-Transplant Factories” in “Manifesto of Innovation (2): Innovation in the new post-industrial Market” >.
Obviously, the same applies to many other products such as appliances (it is the modular modality typical of Personal Computers, which today is gradually extended to other products.)
● Open Public Administration – the new disruptive innovation products are largely solutions that overlap with the Public Services sector. These products, in order to fully develop their value, must therefore be integrated with the Public Administration Services system.
< see “Open P.A.” index in Luca Bottazzi Consulting site >
A significant example of Integration in an Ecosystem is that of Automotive: cars are equipped with a bus (a door for connecting devices) that represents a first step to create an ecosystem of innovation in the sector (in reality the car must be able to communicate directly with the smartphone, as does the car radio).
In this way, the Automotive sector can have a first level of real disruptive innovation developed by small suppliers that create products that can be interfaced with the car (see, for example, INNOVA solutions as plugins that allow to detect speed limits, and change behavior of the car – see “IoT Speed Limiter: A vehicle speed limitation system based on Open Data”). Then there may be an in-Vehicle computer that allows you to develop App.
Enlarging the view, ie moving to a more general level of the Mobility sector, being able to have really Connected vehicles offers the possibility to create Peer to Peer systems of traffic management that are combined with those of Public Administrations < see LiteMotive “Mobility 2.0 System” >.
The potential of the basic qualities of the Fab Labs
<see Towards a radically new model of Industry 4.0: introduction to a Smart Fabrication plan >
If the Fab Labs have no future (they are used solely to gather support and funding from the Public Administration, and the Foundations), they probably represent the best chance to develop new forms of production functional to the new Demand.
This Article illustrates, precisely, how an evolution of the FabLabs (here defined as SmartFAB) is actually a response to the current pseudo-innovation of Industry 4.0.
The production method “Industry 4.0” is, in fact, one of those forms of pseudo-innovation created by the incumbents (managers and Consultants) in order to survive the recession.
From the Fab Labs they can be born
Smart Manufacturing (Smart Fabrication) forms
who have the necessary qualities
to define winning strategies in the nascent market.
