The Future Of Manufacturing: Technology Trends For 2025 And Beyond

1. The manufacturing sector is undergoing a technological and sustainable revolution. Industry 4.0 technologies like AI, IoT, and digital twins are enhancing efficiency, resource optimization, and eco-friendly practices. 

2. By 2025, software innovations will focus on carbon neutrality, energy efficiency, and cloud solutions, significantly reducing environmental impacts. AI drives smart production, while IoT transforms production lines into intelligent systems. 

3. Decentralized manufacturing and microfactories increase supply chain agility, despite challenges. The electrification of vehicle fleets and the integration of digital ecosystems in cars highlight mobility sector trends. However, manufacturers must address cybersecurity and balance cost-efficiency with innovation to adapt to global challenges

4. Here are FORBES and Forrester’s prediction for manufacturing in 2025 

Meteor Lake Shortages Prompt Intel's Costly Ireland Ramp-Up Amid Apollo Deal

1. Buyout firm Apollo Global Management (APO.N),  will acquire a 49% equity interest in a joint venture related to Intel's (INTC.O),  new manufacturing facility in Ireland for $11 billion, the companies said on Tuesday.

2. Apollo will acquire the stake in the Fab 34 joint venture in Leixlip, Ireland, the U.S. chipmaker's first high-volume location for its Intel 4 manufacturing process using extreme ultraviolet lithography machines.

3. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter, would allow Intel to redeploy parts of its investment in the project to other parts of its business, the company said.

Manufacturing Trends and Predictions in 2024

Below are manufacturing predictions and trends from Opentext, Oracle and, Advanced Technology Services (ATS) for 2024.

3 Cybersecurity Issues Manufacturers Can Solve with AI

1. AI has led to some massive changes in many different industries. The manufacturing industry is among those most affected by the changes it has created.

2. Manufacturers are projected to spend $2.3 billion on AI technology this year. While this figure might not seem significant, it is growing at a rate of 47.9% a year through 2027.

3. One of the biggest reasons that the manufacturing sector is investing more heavily in AI is to take advantage of the cybersecurity benefits it offers.

4. Manufacturers are among the biggest targets of cybercriminals. In 2021, over 40% of manufacturers experienced a cyberattack. That figure is likely to increase in the coming years, so they must use all resources at their disposal to combat them.

5. Therefore, using AI-driven cybersecurity strategies will be more important than ever.

6. Technological advancements and innovation have helped manufacturing industries to grow exponentially in the past few years. Companies are no longer limited to using old and offline trends. They are now making significant shifts to online activities. Unfortunately, this has also led to increasing incidences of cyber-attacks.

7. Manufacturers should be aware of the different cybersecurity threats the industry faces today. They must also develop effective solutions to address these threats and minimize risks, which includes using AI to its full potential.

8. Here are three cyber security issues in manufacture you should know, which can be addressed with AI technology.

Vietnam looks to build first semiconductor plant

1. Vietnam is looking to build its first semiconductor plant despite US warnings that it will involve high costs.

2. Reuters reported that officials have met with half a dozen US chip firms in the past few weeks, including with Vu Tu Thanh, head of the Vietnam office of the US-ASEAN Business Council.

3. According to one executive consulted by Reuters, the government in Hanoi is looking to build a plant for less advanced chips used in cars or telecom applications.

4. The Vietnamese government has said it wants to build its first plant by the end of this decade and  chip companies would benefit from “the highest incentives available in Vietnam”.

5. The move to attract chipmaking investors comes after a surge in FDI inflows in the country. According to national statistics, Vietnam attracted over $15.29bn in FDI between January and October 2023, marking a 54% year-on-year increase in the value of investments. Around $5.29bn was spent on 1,051 existing projects.

Total Economic Impact Study Reveals 304% ROI for Complex Manufacturers Using Supply Chain Sustainability Platform Software

1. Independent study highlights how manufacturers are leveraging product compliance and sustainability tools to improve supplier engagement and reduce non-compliance costs.

2. The findings of its commissioned Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study. Conducted by Forrester Consulting, the study found that Assent’s Supply Chain Sustainability Platform provides customers with a return on investment (ROI) of 304% over three years with a payback period of less than six months.

3. The study also indicates that product compliance and sustainability management solutions can enhance and protect brand reputation, ease administrative burdens, and mitigate compliance risks and supply chain disruptions.

China’s Big Plan to Boost Data Center Computing Power

1. As China’s digital businesses continue to grow and as traditional sectors continue to digitize, there will be greater demand for data center infrastructure and high computing capacity.

2. The “Eastern Data, Western Computing” plan was first introduced at the end of 2020 when the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly released the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a National Integrated Big Data Center Collaborative Innovation System (the “guiding opinions”). These guiding opinions first proposed the construction of a nationwide integrated data center system. 

Is the US’s Position as a Global Leader for Data Centres Changing?

1. Of the world’s ten largest data centre companies, six are US multinationals and two are Japanese. Many are questioning, however, whether this crop of data centre corporates will maintain their dominance of the industry’s cross-border investment and global footprint – and what does this mean for companies planning corporate expansions overseas?

How Manufacturers in Less Developed Regions Accelerate the Adoption of Industry 4.0?

1. The manufacturing industry is well aware of the benefits Industry 4.0 technologies can offer. Connectivity, AI/ML, IoT, AR/VR and other technologies are available to provide data and streamline processes and improve manufacturing across diverse industry segments.

2. Yet whilst awareness is broad, uptake is less so. Industrial digitalisation in the UK can be London-centric, leaving regional manufacturing hubs further behind in the adoption of new technologies. The likes of Make UK and Innovate UK are making great strides in broadening adoption, but there is further to go.

3. Part of the challenge lies in regional skills gaps and talent shortages, with businesses outside of city hubs unable to realise the full benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies. There is a lot of incredible technology out there to integrate into manufacturing operations – but it is not always accessible. Regionally, there needs to be equal access to technology alongside abilities to upskill staff and train talent regionally.

IoT Is Changing the Semiconductor Industry; and How Big Data is Applied in Major Industries

1. The IoT semiconductor industry is in continually high demand, especially as people look for increasingly advanced and feature-filled connected devices. However, the specific reasons for the chip’s rise are more complex than some might think. Here’s a closer look at some of them.

2. On the other hand, there are some major big data applications where it has become a game-changer for increasing efficiency, enhancing customer service, reducing costs, making better products, and much more:

Key Trends in Food Processing & Strategies for Food Tech Companies

1. The impact of COVID-19  on the food supply cannot be overstated. The virus is widely believed to have originated in the food supply in China in 2019. It’s therefore not surprising that the resulting global pandemic has changed the food production industry forever.  

2. With on-going quarantines, lockdowns, restaurant closures and work-from-home, consumers had more time to research how their food is being produced and where it is coming from. From the place of origin of food products, to ingredients, to packaging and food safety, American consumers have drastically altered their perception of what a desirable, safe, and delicious food product is. 

3. There are six key trends that U.S. food producers are reacting to. 

4. BCI Global has defined four strategic directions for innovative food tech companies with clear international ambitions to establish the right manufacturing and supply chain footprint for the future. They are as follows:
• Differentiating between short-term capacity development and longer-term strategy
• Creating the right ecosystem
• Selecting the optimal location for new operations
• Footprint risk management.

Digital Twin - Dynamic Virtual Copy

1. A digital twin is a dynamic virtual copy of a physical asset, process, system or environment that looks like and behaves identically to its real-world counterpart. A digital twin ingests data and replicates processes so you can predict possible performance outcomes and issues that the real-world product might undergo.

2. The power of digital twins comes from connecting real-world assets with real-world data, so you can better visualize them. Digital twins enable cross-functional teams to collaboratively design, build, test, deploy and operate complex systems in interactive and immersive ways. They help companies understand the past, view present conditions, and prevent future problems. They inform decision-making through sales and marketing insights, analysis, 3D visualization, simulation, and prediction.

Key Differences Between Automation & robotics and How Robotics Solving Labor Shortages

1. Here are the key differences between automation and robotics and how to use them to your advantage.

2. Robots have emerged as the top solution to labor shortages. Persistent labor shortages have since debunked the idea that robots are somehow stealing jobs from humans. On the contrary “ robots are enabling humans to go after the jobs they truly want.

IoT and Big Data: Understanding the relationship between these two technologies

1. The IoT: definition - The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that connects physical or virtual objects to the internet. The technology very often used is the sensor, allowing to link a physical object such as a watch, a drone or even a speaker, to the internet. 

2. If for a long time the few objects connected to the Internet were the telephone and the computer, this is no longer the case today and every year new types of objects incorporating IOT technology are born.

Predictions for the Manufacturing Industry in 2022 by OpenText, IFS, & Themanufacturer

Manufacturing predictions for 2022 from OpenText, IFS, & Themanufacturer.

Ericsson IndustryLab Report Predicts Manufacturing Transformation & Enterprise Dematerialization By 2030

1. The latest Ericsson IndustryLab Future of Enterprises report predicts widespread transformation of manufacturing enterprises in the coming years, including a rapid rise in ICT-enabled production tools such as augmented reality, exoskeletons and remote control.

2. The series of reports also predicts dematerialized enterprises expect to leverage cloud and mobile technology to become more productive and sustainable by 2030.

Opportunities in Malaysia’s Rubber Glove Industry

1. The onset of COVID-19 has increased the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). This will continue to rise, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that some 89 million medical masks, along with 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million medical goggles are needed each month to respond to the pandemic.

2. This upsurge in demand for PPE presents many scalable opportunities in Malaysia’s rubber glove industry, especially as the government has introduced new incentives for businesses. The country already supplies 65 percent of the world market for rubber gloves (300 billion pieces) and recording 52.7 billion ringgit (US$12.7 billion) worth of glove exports in 2020. This makes the products a key driver behind Malaysia’s resilient exports during a year in which global demand for the country’s resource-based and traditional manufacturing was adversely affected by the pandemic.

Achieving Win-Win Spin-Offs

1. Corporate spin-off can liberate a parent company and a divested business unit from capital and bureaucratic constraints, so they can pursue strategies they couldn’t otherwise. Yet their fates often remain linked. 

2. For a spin-off to truly succeed, both ParentCo and SpinCo (and their investors) should end up in a place better than the one where they started. Indeed,  empirical research suggests that spin-offs outperform by supporting the long-term growth and value-creation opportunities of both entities.

3. Getting to a win–win outcome is often easier said than done, however. Business leaders run into roadblocks when they make critical decisions about the structure of the arrangements between ParentCo and SpinCo and the execution of the spin-off itself—for instance, defining its scope, allocating talent and resources across both entities, and dealing with capital and stranded costs.

4. Four factors critical for achieving win–win spin-offs: a quick transition toward growth, operational excellence, leadership time and attention, and culture and talent.

Servitization of Machine by Manufacturers Generating New Revenue Stream

1. The manufacturing industry has continually embraced concepts that increased its ability to innovate and meet its customers' changing needs or requirements. 

2. Adopting digital transformation- solutions to implement Industrie 4.0 business models is one example of the importance manufacturers place on optimizing traditional processes to improve productivity. 

3. Likewise, servitization of the machine offers manufacturers a pathway to generate a constant revenue stream over decades.

Spin-offs, Start-ups & Cooperation Models in Germany

1. Germany’s start-up scene is in a state of flux: a new generation of business founders is emerging who have many things in common – they pursue research and development as a matter of course, use digital technologies and launch businesses that they want to see expand in the future. These young start-ups develop technologies for medical product innovations, new forms of mobility or applied artificial intelligence.

2. One such young and innovative company is the multi-award-winning start-up ArtiMinds Robotics. ArtiMinds has developed software that allows industrial robots to be programmed quickly and intuitively: the robot copies human movements and learns how to react flexibly to problems. It can then reliably solve even complex tasks.

3. An idea that is as brilliant as it is convincing, this has been a real success story. A 2013 spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has evolved into a technology company employing over 60 people and supplying the world market from its Karlsruhe base.