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The factory of the future
Future of Manufacturing Project: Evidence Paper 29
Foresight, Government Office for Science
The factory of the future
By
Professor Keith Ridgway,
University of Sheffield, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing,
part of the HVM Catapult
Professor Chris. W. Clegg
University of Leeds, Socio-Technical Centre
&
Professor David. J. Williams
Loughborough University, EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative
Medicine
(With contributions from Paul Hourd, Mark Robinson, Lucy Bolton,
Kasia Cichomska and Jim Baldwin)
October 2013
This review has been commissioned as part of the UK Government’s Foresight Future of
Manufacturing Project. The views expressed do not represent policy of any government
or organisation.
Published by The National Metals Technology Centre, University of Sheffield AMRC
The National Metals Technology Centre, University of Sheffield AMRC, Wallis Way,
Rotherham, S60 5TZ
Copyright © 2013 The National Metals Technology Centre, University of Sheffield
AMRC
Designed by Prototype Creative
Edited by Cymone Thomas
ISBN-13: 987-0-9927172-0-9
Introduction
Contents
This report examines the trends and factors that will shape the ‘Factory of
the Future’. The study focuses on sectors most important to the future of UK
manufacturing and exports including, aerospace, automotive, machinery &
fabrications and pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
Introduction 4
Summary 5
1. Review of previous work 8
2. Method and sample analytical framework 14
2.1 Structured interviews 15
2.2 Core findings 16
3. Analysis of sectoral perspectives 29
4. Conclusions and recommendations 33
5. References 37
6. Appendices 40
After a review of published material describing similar studies being
undertaken around the world, a set of seventeen questions were identified.
These were used in structured interviews with senior executives of large
companies, SMEs and researchers.
The findings were evaluated and key issues identified and discussed.
The emerging mental model for the Factory of the Future is of centres of
creativity and innovation embedded in effective networks of relationships,
where capable and talented people use world-class technologies and
processes to create new ways of adding value. This is a world of challenge,
interest and excitement.
The
Factory
of the
Future
4
Summary
This study examines the trends that will shape and influence the
‘Factory of the Future’ (FoF). It study will seek to identify:
• Where work is underway to
examine the likely nature of the
FoF and the main findings of this
work.
• Factories currently regarded,
internationally, as examples of
best practice.
• Sectors where traditional views
of a factory are most likely to be
challenged.
• Developments expected in the
physical arrangements of the FoF.
• How demand for personalisation
of products affect the viability of
the current model of a centralised
factory relying on economies of
scale.
• Technological trends or emerging
technologies most likely to have
a significant impact on the factory
of the future.
• The role the workforce will play in
the FoF.
• How process and product
innovation is shaping the FoF.
• Other trends shaping the
FoF (including sustainability,
management practices,
communications infrastructure,
and value of proximity to
customers, resources & transport
networks).
• How views on the FoF vary
between nations including China,
US, Germany, South Korea,
Japan and Singapore.
There is a strong demand for UK manufacturing to evolve in order to
maintain international competitiveness and promote economic, social
and environmental sustainability. The concept of the Factory of the
Future (Factory 2050) provides a focus for manufacturing research
roadmaps and will support further initiatives in other industrial sectors,
all of which will contribute to ensuring these targets are met.
It focusses on sectors most important to future UK manufacturing and
in particular UK exports. This brings in scope aerospace, automotive,
fabricated products, machinery & equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals
and bio/life sciences but places out of scope food, beverages, tobacco and
publishing & printing.Europe, the USA, Japan, and interviews with other
experts in the area
5
Summary continued...
The authors of this report were asked to include some recommendations for a UK response to the
findings emerging from this study. Recommendations were made in eight inter-related areas concerned
with the development of:
• More integrated and optimised supply / value chains and the standards that
will enable them.
• Stronger long term collaborations between manufacturing companies and
UK Universities to improve innovative thinking and the rate and uptake of
R&D.
• A focus on both organisational and technical innovation, each feeding off
each other.
• A systems view of the FoF, integrating people, organisation and technology.
• The design of agile, reconfigurable factories and extended enterprises.
• A rebalancing of the regulatory framework to enable the rapid construction
of the next generation of factories in Europe and to permit manufacturing
innovation in particular for life sciences.
• A clear and sustainable UK vision that factories of the future are centres of
creativity and innovation, embedded in effective networks of relationships,
where talented people use the latest technologies and processes to create
new ways of adding value.
• Recognition that this will require a significant cultural shift both in how
manufacturing organisations operate and in how they are perceived.
The study was based on a review of published material, structured interviews
with senior executives from large companies and SMEs in Europe, the USA,
Japan, as well as interviews with other experts in the area.
In the interviews these themes and topics represented many of the trends
that leading industrialists expected to see materialise within the FoF.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the study was that there are in fact few
major surprises. The supply chain was cited as extremely important but
few had the opportunity to become involved in supply chain activities or
had control of the complete supply chain for major products. There is a
major opportunity to integrate and manage supply chains as value systems.
Similarly interviewees recognised the importance of visiting examples of
best practice and the relevance of looking at best practice in other sectors
but, with the exception of aerospace and automotive, the majority had
focussed on best practice within their own sector.
Some might argue that this list is probably not particularly surprising. However, we take a different
view. Thus, if manufacturing companies in the UK were able to deliver the changes listed above, it would
represent a major cultural shift, with the potential for improved innovation and competitiveness. Such
changes would make people want to work in manufacturing, thereby attracting, developing and retaining
the talent that is needed.
The review of previous work indicated considerable consensus on the trends and ‘hot topic’ themes shaping the future of manufacturing and industrial
competitiveness. These include:
• Sustainable manufacturing including recycling and minimisation of waste.
• Introduction of green manufacturing technologies.
• Improved and simplified ICT including simulation/modelling tools for
design, processes and manufacturing systems.
• Automation is a given; advanced robotics and intelligent
manufacturing systems.
• Next generation materials with novel functionalities.
• Manufacturing enterprise systems and responsive, distributed design and
production systems.
• Straightforwardly reconfigurable facilities and systems, that are agile and
capable of fast ramp up as demand grows.
• The importance of talented, well-educated and creative people.
• Business models that focus on creating, operating and exploiting more
integrated value chains.
6
The technologies required in the FoF are largely already available and are perhaps commodities diffusing rapidly across the
world; exploiting these technologies to enable new products is what brings competitive advantage. The FoF will make better use
of the technologies, whilst the supporting software and systems will make the technologies easier to access, monitor and control.
Adaptive control will tend towards self-learning and there will be emphasis on fast ramp up and the transition from manual
manufacture of first prototypes, through semi automation to fully automated systems. The ‘Easily Reconfigurable Factory’ was
identified as a highly desirable facet of the FoF.
Themes previously promoted such as ‘Factory on skids’, ‘Micro Factory Retail
Centres’ and the ‘5-day car’ do not appear high on the radar for the Factory
of the Future. The general trend is towards smaller, manageable, clean,
well-organised, highly flexible factories that contain updated but traditional
technologies that can be quickly ramped up to meet volume and deliver
‘highest quality’ to changing customer and market requirements.
Factories will tend towards flatter management structures with a more
highly skilled and IT literate workforce focusing more on product design,
optimisation, monitoring and controlling of processes. This will lead to de-
skilling of traditional process and craft skills such as machining and welding,
whilst re-skilling in the new advanced technologies, the soft skills in managing
operations effectively, and understanding the customer. Craft skills, however,
will remain essential in the finishing of premium and luxury goods.
One striking factor has been the emphasis of interviewees on the importance
of the value chain. The ability to create and operate a value chain that
collectively delivers a unique value proposition to the user market is seen as
the most significant source of future competitive advantage. It is seen as
very important that businesses have this understanding and the skills and
capabilities to both create the value chain as an integrated system – the
key step – and to operate it. Operation of the value chain – essentially the
co-ordination of the supply chain members to operate a cross-organisational
business process – is seen as complex but less challenging than creating
it. Lean supply chains balancing global and local are a given, but lean must
be exquisitely balanced with resilience, especially in regulated industries,
because the customer does not directly see or buy lean. Materials
management and resource conservation are also critical in the design
and operation of the supply chain as reflected in the Japanese concept of
‘Monozukuri’.
A further opportunity arises through capitalising on the largely untapped
potential for collaboration between manufacturing companies and UK
universities. In this view, manufacturing companies have needs for the latest
thinking, for new ideas and for innovation (and not just in engineering and
technology). Universities are perpetually refreshing their skills and capabilities
through young talent with aspirations, and have thousands of talented people
potentially looking for operational and R&D opportunities. Whilst there are
some excellent role models who manage these relationships well, there are
opportunities to bring these communities together in real and substantial
long term relationships that benefit all parties and the UK overall. Engaging
young fresh thinking in the definition of the way forward for manufacturing is
also important. This also involves much more than a more traditional view that
universities simply provide the next generation of well-trained graduates.
The potential game changers have been identified primarily as advances
in materials enabled by materials science. This includes graphene and
nano materials, new surface coatings, new composite materials and resins
including bio-composites, and biologically derived and natural, living
materials. Perhaps just as important however are game changers in our
vision for the factory of the future. This study is clear – the FoF will require
world class organisation, people and technology working to find creative and
innovative ways of adding value. The national ecosystem needs to support
this.
The emerging mental model for the FoF is of centres of creativity and
innovation, embedded in effective networks of relationships (for example with
suppliers and universities) where capable and talented people use world-
class technologies and processes to create new ways of adding value.
7
1. Review of previous work
• Where is work underway to examine the likely nature of the factory of the future? What are the main findings of this work?
• Which factories are currently regarded, internationally, as examples of best practice and why?
• How do views on the Factory of the Future vary between nations? Key comparisons: China, US, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
Drawing on website information and publicly available government
documents from selected countries or regions of interest, this summary
provides an overview of international strategic manufacturing research and
innovation initiatives and related priority research activities in Europe, Japan,
China, USA, Germany, South Korea and Singapore. It particularly focusses
on the manufacturing research trends/themes that are set to influence the
shape and nature of the FoF.
While not providing a comprehensive or systematic analysis of international
manufacturing research systems, which can be found elsewhere [O’Sullivan,
2011], the observations outlined below show significant consensus on many
of the trends and ‘hot topic’ themes shaping the future of manufacturing and
industrial competitiveness.
8
• Sustainable manufacturing (people friendly and eco-friendly factories).
• ICT-enabled intelligent manufacturing (smart factories, digital factories, virtual factories).
• High productivity manufacturing (adaptive production equipment, high-precision manufacturing, zero defect manufacturing).
• New materials in manufacturing (materials efficiency, manufacturing processes for new high performing materials).
Europe
The Factories of the Future research programme was launched by the European Factories of the Future
Research Association (EFFRA) in 2009 as one of three Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) included in the
EU Commission’s economic recovery plan (2008). It served to address the challenges and opportunities
for manufacturing future products and economic, social and environmental sustainability. Expected to
deliver results in 2013-14, the programme focussed on the following research and innovation priorities
identified in its strategic research roadmap (2009-2013):
EFFRA launched (Nov 2012) a strategic multi-annual research roadmap
for the ‘Factories of the Future 2020’, which supports the proposed
continuation of PPP activities under the Horizon 2020 framework programme
for Research and Innovation. It will also form the basis for research call
topics and the overall direction of research in the ‘Factories of the Future’
(investing EUR 7 billion). Aimed at transforming European manufacturing
sectors, the 2020 roadmap identifies six research and innovation priorities
(Advanced Manufacturing Processes, Adaptive and Smart Manufacturing
Systems, Digital Virtual and Resource Efficient Factories, Collaborative and
Mobile Enterprises, Human-Centred Manufacturing and Customer-Focussed
Manufacturing) centred on realising the Manufacturing Vision 2030 under
four long-term paradigms:
• Factory and Nature
• Factory as a Good Neighbour
• Factories in the Value Chain
• Factory and Humans
Under the FoF roadmap framework, a coordinated research and innovation
effort will address the manufacturing challenges and opportunities by
deploying the following technologies and enablers: advanced manufacturing
processes and technologies (including photonics), mechatronics for
advanced manufacturing systems (including robotics), information and
communication technologies, manufacturing strategies, knowledge workers,
modelling, simulation and forecasting methods & tools.
9
PARIS - JUNE 21:
GEnx jet engine (turbofan) rear view at Le Bourget Air Show on June 21,
2009 in Paris, France.
GEnx engine is one of the options chosen by Boeing to power its 787 and
747-8 aircrafts.
Image Credit
Olga Besnard / Shutterstock.com
© Olga Besnard
10
Japan
As part of a cohesive “innovation program”
(noting the broader international agenda of Japan
compared to Germany and USA, which focus on
national economies) the focus of themes emerging
from the 4th Science and Technology Plan 2011-
2015 and Japan’s science and technology (S &
T) strategic roadmap and linked manufacturing
competitiveness strategy include:
• Emphasis on the implications of demographic changes and ‘social
issue targets’: prioritisation on new production technologies for an aging
workforce and manufacture of new products for an aging population.
• Sustainable growth, green innovation and societal development,
in particular ‘whole systems approach’ addressing sustainable
manufacturing, energy conservation and eco-friendly, low carbon,
resource-efficient, smart manufacturing technologies.
• ‘Monozukuri’ (making things as perfectly and efficiently as possible while
respecting nature in terms of both materials and the environment) features
prominently, emphasising reduction in resource consumption, less waste
and minimal negative environmental impact.
• Emphasis on actions to improve profitability via the prevention of
technology leakage and strategic standardisation supporting reformation
of business models.
• Other priority areas include rare metal substitution, new aeroplane/rocket
design, next generation robots/technologies for changing demographics
(especially aging), visualisation technologies and integration of IT systems
with production technologies, nanotechnology (‘Green Nanotechnology’,
‘Nano-Bio’, ‘Nanoelectronics’), biotechnology, medical technologies,
advanced measurement and analytics technology and next generation
fuel batteries.
South Korea
Relevant themes emerging from Korea’s 2nd
National S & T Basic Plan 2008-2012 (the 577
Initiative) [noting 3rd Plan 2013-2017 is due] and
‘Vision 2025’ includes:
• Seventeen future sectors identified under three broad headings: green-
tech, high-tech convergence technologies and value-added services.
• Emphasis on green innovation, particularly green ICT e.g. smart grid,
cloud computing.
• Focus on industrial and knowledge based technologies, particularly in ICT,
life science, advanced materials, alternative energies, the environment,
mechatronics and basic science.
• Focus on upgrading seven flagship strategic capabilities and supply
chains: automobiles, shipbuilding, semiconductors, steel, machinery,
textiles/materials; including establishing regional cluster networks,
regional institutions and public and private sector funding.
11
Germany
Manufacturing research priorities highlighted within the German ‘High Tech Strategy 2020’ and
identified in other research-related foresight exercises include:
Singapore
Priority and emerging manufacturing research themes identified in the ‘Research, Innovation and
Enterprise Plan 2015’:
• Emphasis on promotion of high value manufacturing, innovations and new
technologies, including: pervasive microfluidics, printed electronics and
nano-manufacturing of multi-functional products/devices.
• Green and sustainable manufacturing, including: pharmaceutical and
chemical manufacture and development of methodologies and tools for
assessment of sustainability in manufacturing.
USA
Recent US policy studies, initiatives and summits related to manufacturing research indicate a high
degree of consensus on priority manufacturing research challenges and research domains captured in
proposals outlined in the ‘President’s Plan to Revitalize American Manufacturing’:
China
Themes emerging from China’s 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015), the ‘MLP’ (Medium- and Long-term
National Plan for Science and Technology Development 2006–20), the ‘Innovation roadmap 2050, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences roadmap for Chinese S & T development beyond MLP and China’s policy of
‘zizhu chuangxin’ (indigenous innovation) include:
• Key trends: globalisation, ICT integration, ‘intelligent’ manufacturing
systems and resource efficient production.
• Emphasis on development of seven strategic emerging knowledge-
based industries: new-generation IT, high-end equipment manufacturing,
advanced materials, alternative energy, energy conservation and
biotechnology.
• Focus on ‘advanced manufacturing technologies’: advanced materials,
‘green’ resource-efficient and eco-friendly manufacturing, digital and
intelligent design & manufacturing, along with design, production and
testing technologies for manufacturing at the micro- and nano-scale,
advanced automation/intelligent service robots and service life prediction
technologies.
• Development of eight socio-economic systems, including: a ‘sustainable
energy and resources system’ and ‘new materials and green
manufacturing system’.
• Twenty-two strategic technology areas, including manufacturing-related
topics such as: ‘green manufacture of high quality elementary raw
materials’, synthetic biology and nanotechnology.
• Energy, environmental and sustainability manufacturing including the
development of international standards and resource efficient manufacturing
and value chains.
• Market orientation and strategic product planning.
• Digital manufacturing and advanced automation including simulation and
modelling, robotics and the human-machine interface.
• Production systems and processes for emerging technologies including
advanced materials, biotechnology and nanotechnology, pharmaceutical
factories and micro-level processing.
• People in flexible and responsive manufacturing firms - factory and working
methods for older demographics.
• Flexible production networks and systems for customised production.
• Protection of production know-how and products in global manufacturing
systems.
• Strategic project (‘Industry 4.0’) focussed on embedded systems, seamless
digital networks, decentralised control of production, virtual planning of
products and production and remote maintenance i.e. cyber-physical
systems in production systems to provide the ‘smart factory.’ Based on 3
pillars; smart production, urban production and green production.
• Sustainable manufacturing and manufacturing of green technologies.
• Simulation/modelling tools for design, materials process and
manufacturing systems.
• Nanotechnology applications to the production/process technologies.
• Bio-manufacturing, particularly regenerative medicine and
synthetic biology.
• Advanced robotics and cyber-physical manufacturing systems including
intelligent manufacturing systems and strategic standards development.
• Next generation materials with novel functionalities.
• Manufacturing enterprise systems and responsive, distributed design and
production systems.
12
People – an international theme
Analyses of the major research reports in this area revealed a consistent emphasis on the role of people
in the Factory of the Future, and in particular:
• The importance of talent (“Nothing will matter more than talent” -World Economic Forum, 2012).
• The need for creativity and innovation.
• The need for flexibility, involving multi-disciplinary teams of empowered and agile employees, who can integrate their knowledge and expertise.
• The significance of demographic changes and, in particular, the ageing workforce, making it even more imperative that manufacturing transforms itself into an
attractive career option for the best talent.
• In this context, the gender imbalance in manufacturing generally is significant, limiting the potential for attracting the best talent.
• The importance of continuing education and training (rather than something that is done before settling into a career). One implication of this, coupled with
longer working lives, is that it makes sense to attract people into manufacturing in their mid-working lives and to develop them to the best of their abilities.
13
This study took the form of a structured interview based around a number of key questions. The
interviews were carried out with a sample of manufacturing leaders from a number of large companies
and owners and senior managers of a number of SMEs, along with some international experts in the
domain. The interviewees were selected from a range of sectors to provide a wide perspective.
The overall method for this study involved 7 main stages:
• A literature review.
• Interviews with a sample of manufacturing leaders from a number of large companies, owners and senior managers of a number of SMEs and some
experts in the area, selected form a range of sectors to provide a wider perspective. The interview schedule is presented in appendix 1 of this report.
• The initial findings were presented at a high level stakeholder meeting chaired by the Rt. Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, which included senior representatives
from manufacturing, service, research and governmental organisations.
• The findings were then presented to a working group of experts appointed by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) to oversee and
interpret this work.
• In light of the feedback received, we undertook a small number of further visits, meetings and interviews.
• Written feedback was given on the report by two independent referees (solicited by BIS officials).
• The report was finalised and submitted.
2. Method and sample analytical framework
14
2.1 Structured interviews
Key people were interviewed as listed in table 1 below:
Table 1: List of people interviewed
Name Company Sector
Colin Sirrett Airbus Aerospace
Salvatore Milletarì Avio (Italy) Aerospace
Geoff Kirk Rolls-Royce Aerospace
David White UTAS Aerospace
Eberhart Bessey Consultant Automotive
Daniele Bassan CRF (Fiat) Automotive
Tony Walker Toyota Automotive
David Newble TAP Biosystems Bioinstrumentation
Chris Decubber EFFRA Cross sector
Richard Cook AES Seals Ltd Fabricated metal products
Hugh Facey Gripple Fabricated metal products
Rikardo Bueno TECNALIA Fabricated metal products
Kieron Murphy GE Healthcare Life sciences
Neil MacDonald AES Seals and Master Cutler Machinery and equipment
Angelo Merlo CESI (Italy) Machinery and equipment
David Robinson Charles Robinson (Cutting Tools) Limited Machinery and equipment
Craig Mckay Evenort Machinery and equipment
Christoph Hanisch Festo Machinery and equipment
Enrico Tamburini Fidia Machinery and equipment
Christopher Jewitt Footprint Sheffield Machinery and equipment
Cameron Mclelland Polypipe Machinery and equipment
Jan Edvardsson Sandvik Tooling Machinery and equipment
Engelbert Westkämper Uni Stuttgart IPA Machinery and equipment
Nick Medcalf Smith & Nephew UK Ltd Medical device/life sciences
John Wilkinson MHRA Medical device regulation
Mark Bustard Healthcare & Medicines KTN/BioProcess UK Pharma/life sciences
Joyce Tait INNOGEN Systems biology
George Kilburn Cutlers Company Trade body
Alan Marsden Arup Various
Andrew Ainger Selex Galileo Various
Tim Page TUC Various
15
2.2 Core findings
Context: What are the main trends shaping the FoF?
People interviewed were asked to consider both the medium term (to 2020) and long term (to 2050)
aspects of each question. Where appropriate, the results for each of the main questions are tabulated
and summarised graphically in appendix 2.
Are you aware of where there is work underway to examine the likely nature of the factory of the
future? This might be research, development, practice, consultancy.
What are the main findings of this work?
Several examples of best practice were identied including both large and small companies. These included:
1.
Which factories are currently regarded, internationally, as examples of best practice and why? (For
example, the VW transparent factory in Dresden, and the Nissan factory in Sunderland). Please cite
particular examples you think we should know about.
2.
UK SMEs
Gripple (Shefeld &Loadhog (Shefeld) - both have won the SME Factory
of the Year.
TapBiosytems (Royston): Automated cell culture systems.
UK Large Enterprises
BMW (Hams Hall, Warwickshire): Automation, processes and
customised assembly.
Toyota (Burnaston & Japan): Emphasis on manufacturing systems and
their green agenda (involving products, processes, people and technology).
AES Seals (Rotherham): Factory layout, introduction of advanced
technology and systems.
Renishaw (Gloucestershire): Automation.
McLaren Production Centre (Woking): Factory layout and organisation.
Bentley (Crewe): Investment in their production line.
It is clear that many focus attention on best practice within their own
organisation and sector, but few, perhaps because of their focus on the day-
to-day management of their business, had awareness of work in the FoF
or of best practice in other sectors. The major activities have already been
reported above and the outcomes of these should be further disseminated.
EU
BMW (Leipzig, Munich): Automation, customised assembly.
Festo (Germany): Innovative working environment.
Scania (Sweden): Working environment, machine monitoring.
Volkswagen (Dresden, Kemnitz): Modular design flexible product factory.
USA
Boeing 787 Assembly Facility (Seattle): Assembly with minimum fixtures
and tooling.
Xcelleres: Single use disposables and novel clean room configurations for
biopharmaceuticals.
BMW (Spartanburg): Automotive.
Elsewhere
Embraer (Brazil): Aircraft manufacture.
There are clearly some excellent examples of best practice and some very
innovative factories, a number of which are in the UK and include
SMEs. It would be beneficial to encourage more people
to visit these excellent facilities.
16
In which sectors are the traditional views of a factory most likely to be challenged (for example in
pharmaceuticals - factory in a cell/body in a cell, or chemicals - additive layer manufacturing of a
customised factory2)?
3.
The most general perspective was that there would not be radical change
in the view of the FoF other than it should have a smaller footprint. Factors
such as fast ramp up and fast movement from manual through semi-
automated to automated manufacture are expected to play an increasing
role in the FoF.
Product life cycle was identified as a critical factor that governs many
aspects of the FoF. In the aerospace sector, the life cycle is approaching
50 years. Regulation, including validation and certification of components
also inhibits rapid change. The aerospace industry is largely governed by
large aircraft platforms such as the Boeing 787 and 737 and the Airbus
380, 350 and 320. As both Airbus and Boeing will be competing with a new
single aisle, 150 seat aircraft early in the 2020s, both companies will be
incorporating many of the technologies currently available and in use. Major
changes will be in areas such as the production of large monolithic parts
and methods to reduce assembly and tooling costs.
Production rates at the Airbus A30X factories (replacement for the A320)
are anticipated to reach 60 per month with the switchover from the existing
A320NEO within 18 months. This will prove to be a significant challenge
for the UK. A further challenge in the UK will be the volume of wings
manufactured that need to meet the tolerances for Natural Laminar Flow
(NLF).
In other sectors where the product life cycle is much shorter (e.g. electronic
and photographic equipment) the emphasis is on flexibility and quick
reconfiguration of existing facilities, fast ramp up, rapid automation and
self-learning.
Lengthy, 50 year, product life cycles in aerospace must have a stable factory
and production system. Excess manufacturing capacity, as for example
in automotive, is also seen as a barrier to radical change despite the
continuing emphasis on leanness and operational excellence, for instance
the use of automotive supplier parks. Changes were, however, expected
as a consequence of the rebalancing of global and local supply. Some
anticipated that high street products could take advantage of technologies
such as 3D printing to allow local and close to customer manufacturing.
Significant changes in the pharmaceutical business model with the growth
of personalised medicine, the death of the blockbuster (the margins
associated with it) and the growth of stratified medicines were identified as
drivers for significant change in pharmaceutical manufacturing. However,
this much change would require regulatory change to enable it to happen.
‘Cells in culture’ was identified as an industry. The factory in a cell is seen
as established technology, particularly with the emergence of disposable
production systems. Despite this, the cell as a product is still seen as
very challenging especially in the ‘factory in the hospital’ setting of some
regenerative medicines. Synthetic biology is a fluid and fast moving field
where manufacturing and scale-up issues are already being explored,
including the use of living plants as factories. Commercial wins will go to
those who have the courage and insight to exploit its complexity.
In aerospace, the long product life cycle and the close proximity of the next
generation aircraft leads to the observation that the design of the FoF is
already known and the major influences are associated with the selection of
materials for major components. The selection of composite or aluminium
wing, and composite or aluminium fuselage will determine the final shape
and design of the FoF and associated supply chain.
1 Human body on a chip: DARPA – MIT collaboration (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/human-body-on-a-chip-research-funding-0724.html )
2 Chemical Engineering: 3-D printer produces custom vessels for chemical synthesis ( http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i16/Chemical-Reactors-Demand.html )
Figure 1: The workshop environment, AES Seals Ltd, Rotherham showing many facets of the FoF. (Lean, clean, bright, reconfigurable, CNC
machine tools grouped in flexible cells). Photograph reproduced with kind permission of AES Seals Ltd, Rotherham.
17
Cross sector learning is seen universally as a ‘good thing’. Divisions
between industrial sectors are seen to some degree as historical and
artificial, and there are potential gains to be made by learning from others
and from working at the intersections between sectors. For example, some
organisations which regarded themselves as production-oriented are now
providing services. However, there are certain caveats to such positive
statements.
Firstly, many of our experts proved to be quite sector focussed – they knew
significant amounts about their own sectors, but less about others. This
may be a reflection of our sample, but in our experience, this is not unusual.
Learning lessons from elsewhere is not a major focus of effort in many
organisations, perhaps in part because it requires an investment of time.
There is also an argument, that people tend to stay in their sectors as their
careers progress, developing depth rather than breadth of expertise as this
is necessary to retain a competitive position.
Secondly, one clear exception is where something becomes fashionable
and something of a management fad, as exemplified by the interest in the
Japanese manufacturing miracle through the 1990s and in management
techniques such as just-in-time manufacturing, concurrent engineering,
business process re-engineering, continuous improvement, supply chain
partnering and the like. Interestingly the opportunities here for learning
are concerned largely with the operational and organisational aspects of
manufacturing rather than with hard technologies. Indeed it is these ‘softer’
issues that are most readily transferable.
Thirdly, there are clearly recognised and well established opportunities for
cross sector learning. This is particularly true in closely aligned sectors,
such as the automotive and aerospace industries. For instance, in the
automotive industry, there are higher levels of automation, more efficient
flowlines, and better management of supply chains, and the aerospace
industry can, and is learning from these. In turn, the aerospace industry
has greater levels of flexibility and the automotive industry can learn from
this. In addition to adopting the large system integrator and supply chain
management models, aerospace has also benefitted from studying the
automotive industry’s experience of discontinuing a successful high volume
product and replacing it with a novel new model.
Fourthly, further potential lies in learning from IT (e.g., how to gain benefit
from cloud computing), the evolution of the internet (what Cisco terms
the ‘Internet of Everything’) the pharmaceutical industry (e.g., intellectual
property), and new companies such as Amazon (in their use of outsourcing
and operation of supply chains). Notwithstanding the above, few people
in our sample raised the prospect of learning from sectors other than
manufacturing – e.g. from gas, petroleum, retail, and service industries.
Finally, there is a resonating impression of a fragmented and rather inwardly
facing world, which, as discussed later, is further reinforced by apparent
fragmentation between practice and academia outside of the well known
exemplars of best practice.
4. What lessons can be learnt from examining cross-sector issues, e.g. would the factory of the future
in the bioscience/pharma sector benefit from thinking in the aerospace/automobile sector or
vice versa?
In what ways might they benefit?
18
Figure 2: Shop floor environment Loadhog, Sheffield.
Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Loadhog Ltd.
Figure 3: Office environment at Loadhog, Sheffield.
Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Loadhog Ltd.
What developments can be expected in the physical arrangements of the factory of the future, i.e.
would it be centralised, distributed, or reconfigurable?
Have you witnessed such arrangements being effective?
How does this differ by sector?
5.
The physical arrangement will depend on the various needs and
requirements and it is clear that there is no one answer that fits all. There
is clearly a desire to have highly reconfigurable, facilities within a flexible
workspace. This is discussed at length later in this report.
In the automotive and aerospace sectors where product life cycles are
longer, there is more potential for supplier parks. There is also increasing
focus on value chains.
The desirable physical arrangements are not specifically related to industrial
sectors and include factors such as:
• Smaller factories.
• High visibility with clear lines of sight of all operations.
• Perception of a light, spacious and clean working environment.
• Good workspace utilisation.
• ‘Open’, welcoming factories offering access to customers, suppliers,
universities and the general public (with role models emerging especially
in the automotive sector.
• Increased urbanisation and potential to build factories in the city.
• Factories with a ‘wow’ factor that are attractive places in which to work.
A good example of these attributes is demonstrated at Loadhog who
manufacture innovative handling and logistics products including reusable
pallets and storage devices. They are housed in a refurbished, traditional
factory in the industrial centre of Sheffield and won the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Excellence Award for Best SME 2011.
The photographs show the shop floor working environment and offices with
the ‘wow’ factor.
19
Will demand for personalisation of products affect the viability of the current model of a centralised
factory relying on economies of scale (e.g. the rise of ‘single use’ disposable or multi-use factories)?
6.
As reflected in the discussion in Question 3, there are few surprises. While
recent US reports emphasise ‘the tyranny of bulk’, there are few mentions
of the ‘Factory on skids’ or ‘Factory in a container’ and there are no ‘5 day
cars’ or ‘Micro Factory Retail Centres’ mentioned in our interviews, but ‘time
to customer’ is seen as perhaps more important than personalisation. It is
also understood that, given the increased amount of electronics in products
– mobile phones and cars being cited as examples – that self-customisation
of products will become increasingly important. There is, however, an
expectation that some of the factory will move closer to the customer given
the trend to personalisation but that ‘the vital organs’ of manufacturing
will be centralised, giving rise to the potential for a hub and satellite
configuration. The consequences of this in the life science industries have
already been addressed in Question 3 and are discussed in the sectoral
analysis elsewhere in this report.
Civil aerospace programmes have always started with the assumption that
the design will not change once certified. This is now being challenged
as new technologies become available e.g. A320 to A320NEO, which
introduces new engines and wing devices. There is a clear desire in many
industries to have reconfigurable factory space.
Discussion here has to be considered with that on physical structure in
Question 5 and the supply chain in Question 9; location of the factory is
critical. Production is getting closer to consumption to ensure the right
product is at the right place and at the right time and to permit local
customisation and personalisation. A hub and satellite configuration also
enhances the opportunities for re-configuration of the extended enterprise.
However, existing and overcapacity in traditional industrialised countries
slows change. Consequently, emerging markets with little infrastructure
could be and are the destinations for some of the newest approaches to
manufacturing. Such destinations will include the BRIC countries but may
include the oil-rich Gulf States such as Dubai if manufacturing goes
direct to consumer.
Which technological trends (including robotics and new design methodologies) or emerging
technologies (including nano-technologies) are most likely to have a significant impact on the
Factory of the Future?
In what ways will they have an impact?
7.
The two dominant trends mentioned by most responders are the influence
and use of automation & robotics along with the consequences of
environmental pressures and zero waste approaches on the recycling of
materials and products within the supply chain. These are both a given. The
factory is seen as digital, having increasing intelligence and or exploiting
the opportunities of big data. Even more significantly, software tools are
increasingly being seen as much simpler and easier to use, in addition to
being more intuitive. ‘New robotics’ and SME friendly robotics are seen as
important with emphasis being given to stimulating UK businesses to use
these technologies in the best way.
In the survey 26% of the respondents identified nano technology as having
the potential to make a significant impact. This may be in the form of nano
coatings and nano materials, which can produce a step change in materials
performance.
In the vast majority of cases, the technology required in the FoF is seen to
be already available within the more traditional industry sectors and it is
the focus on the exploitation and use of the technologies that is becoming
important. For instance 5-axis CNC machine tools and robots are readily
available but the optimum operation of these machines and the move from
in-process measurement and monitoring and adaptive control to self-
learning will be realised in the FoF.
The FoF will include systems designed to reduce ramp up times
dramatically, allow for autonomous code generation, support the quick
change over from manual to semi-automatic to automatic and allow the
reuse of existing equipment in new lines.
Terms such as fast ramp up and reconfigurable factory infer a considerable
change in both the level and use of enabling technologies such as the GPS-
enabled factory, not using a conventional flow-line, flexible adaptive tooling
and the ability to self-datum. Robotics are used accurately with feedback
control to remove variation in what are, today, heavily manual production
processes. Rapid reconfiguration and fast ramp also implies increased
use of simulation and modelling, testing factory layouts and processes in
a virtual reality environment, virtual factory design and virtual factories, in
addition to increasing use of plug-and-play technologies.
Design led factories, design enablers and design methodology enablers
were also seen as critical by many because of their potential impact on the
generation of new products and because of their ‘design for manufacture’
impact. An example of this is ‘Modularer Baukasten’, the modular matrix of
VW/Audi product design, enabling significant factory design simplification.
The focus will be on more rapid introduction of design modifications,
lower tooling capital expenditure and lower overall recurring cost of the
product. There are opportunities associated with getting young designers
to understand more about manufacturing and encouraging them to reinvent
manufacturing.
20
Figure 4: Mill turn capable of machining complex parts on one machine, reducing set-up and increasing accuracy.
Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of AES Seals Ltd.
Some responders and a reviewer of an earlier version of the report
highlighted that the impact of ‘big data’ and pervasive computing would be
significant in the factory of the future.
Many respondents mentioned 3D printing. While some were experts
others had little or no experience of the technology. The technology risks
being overhyped until it is seen to deliver robust functional products. If the
potential is achieved, the technology could be a significant game changer in
the manufacture of low volume specialised products. The potential impact of
3D printing is discussed later in the concluding comments.
The technology trends likely to impact the FoF and their impact are
inevitably an area of uncertainty and debate. Following a challenge from
the High Level Stakeholder Group to be more visionary with respect to the
FoF, the work here was validated with other thinking, especially that of the
Manufuture platform. This is of significance because of its development
in the EU economic setting. Current thinking is that the key mainstream
technologies of importance for conventional manufacturing and their
trends are seen to be clear up to 2030. Post 2030 perspectives are much
more uncertain due to a number of factors. Process technology of 3D
printing is likely to be important. Enabling of the creation and operation
of value systems using ICT is likely to be significant. Together with the
opportunities of emerging science and materials, for instance graphene
and living materials are likely to drive dramatic change. Determining the
technology likely to deliver epochal change in manufacturing - at the level,
for example, of the combination of numerical control and computer aided
design, needs to remain a focus of the research community. There is also
a need to continually consider the technologies that will be required by
individual market sectors as a consequence of their different products and
requirements – the FoF solution will be different for different businesses.
21
What role will the workforce play in the Factory of the Future?
How will this be optimised?
For example will the trend be towards up-skilling staff? Or deskilling?
Or some combination of both?
8.
The workforce will play an increasingly important role in future manufacturing,
although technological advances will lead to the automation of many existing
manual processes. Rather than replacing people, these developments will
change their roles towards more knowledge-based work. The rise of smart
technology will be a key driver of this shift, with people required to work as part
of an integrated socio-technical system. There will be a change from ‘doing’ the
manufacturing to monitoring automated processes in real-time and responding
to feedback from machines to optimise process capability. The review of
international perspectives has shown automation is a given, as is mechanisation.
However, there were sensitivities from some respondents with respect to the
replacement of people and jobs by robots – robo-sourcing1. This highlights
the requirement in two ways. Firstly, to communicate the reality of international
economic competition for manufacturing added value and manufacturing
jobs to all stakeholders, to ensure that skills are maintained and enhanced.
And secondly, focussing technology innovation on business problems, where
manufacturing technology gives significant rather than incremental benefit.
These changes in people’s roles will occur throughout the factory, from the
shop floor through to those designing engineering processes. Whilst there may
be some de-skilling in traditional trades, there will be widespread up-skilling in
areas related to technology, and the organisation and management of processes
particularly with respect to meeting the needs of the customer. In essence, re-
skilling will be required. Technological advances will be rapid and will need to be
matched by continual training and development, and flexible non-bureaucratic
processes. For some a change in mindset will be required such that training
is viewed as investing in the future rather than a short-term cost. In addition
craft skills will remain essential in the finishing of premium and luxury goods, an
important component of UK exports, an area where considerable investment is
being made.
The knock-on effects that changes have on employees described elsewhere in
this report are acknowledged and reflect our view that these are inter-connected
systems. Examples of heavy demands placed on employees include, the need
for innovations in products, processes and business models, the move towards
re-configurable enterprises, the challenges created by integrated value chains
and the need to understand and work with customers. These are consistent with
the wider literatures described in section 1 above. This is likely to mark the end
of the pervading culture of command and control, necessitating a shift towards
empowered and engaged employees.
An emphasis was placed on the need to attract, develop and keep talented
people. These are viewed as the sources of innovation and creativity. Attracting
talented individuals into manufacturing represents a major challenge, especially
in the context of an ageing and gender-imbalanced workforce. Here, the bright,
clean, innovative working environment of the FoF can be a major factor. It is also
recognised that the trend towards longer working lives opens up the opportunity
to attract mid-career people into manufacturing. As is already becoming evident,
careers need no longer be a choice people make when they are in their 20’s.
Figure 5: Investment in Best Gun Making at Westley Richards, Birmingham.
Demonstrating the transformation of traditional buildings to create a modern
factory environment.
Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Westley Richards.
Figure 6: Gun making at Westley Richards, Birmingham. Demonstrating the use
of traditional skills to produce high value products.
Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Westley Richards.
1 Expressed in a similar way to “out-sourcing” or “back-sourcing” i.e. the onshoring of jobs.
A further issue concerns the attractiveness of careers in manufacturing for
Generation Y (i.e. those born between 1983 and 1999). It is widely thought
that this generation is, in comparison with its predecessors, more likely to be
devotees of social technology, gaming and the internet, less formal and less
accepting of bureaucratic structures and processes, used to diversity and
globalisation and more environmentally conscious.
Greater collaboration is required between education and industry to ensure that
graduates and school leavers are equipped with the skills required for these
future manufacturing environments. Further integration between universities
and industry would facilitate this change. Industrial placements for students will
become more frequent, and organisations could sponsor degree programmes
tailored to their specific requirements. This is addressed later.
22
What role could the supply chain play in the Factory of the Future?
For example, are these likely to get more global? Or more local?
Are they likely to get leaner? Or to build in redundancy to cover threats to resilience?
9.
The most striking thing about this survey has been the emphasis of
interviewed on the importance of the value chain and the opportunities for
improvement in this area. The ability to create and operate a value chain that
collectively delivers a unique value proposition to the user market is seen as
the most significant source of future competitive advantage. It is seen as
very important that businesses have this understanding and the skills and
capabilities to both create the value chain – the key step – and to operate
it. Operation of the value chain – essentially the co-ordination of the supply
chain dyads to operate a cross-organisational business process – is seen as
complex but less challenging than creating it. Lean supply chains are a given,
but lean must be exquisitely balanced with resilience, especially in regulated
industries. This is because the customer does not directly see or buy lean.
Materials management and resource conservation is also critical in the design
and operation of the supply chain as reflected in the Japanese concept of
‘Monozukuri’.
The global or local supply chain question is driven by conflicting demands. On
one hand, there is a desire in some industries to have a global supply chain to
support global marketing and sales campaigns, in addition to supporting risk
reward strategies that depend upon global participation. This is particularly
true in the aerospace industry.
On the other hand, there is a push to have local supply chains and supply
park models that go further than existing models. In addition to proximity,
there is support for sharing resources locally to cope with demand (resource
pooling) and the requirements for specialist expertise or knowledge (e.g. NDT
or process modelling). An example of this is the ‘Proving Factory’ concept
being discussed for the automotive industry, where new manufacturing
concepts can be trialled in an industrial environment on an industrial scale
with potential partners.
Economic clusters of activity in the form of Science Parks, Advanced
Manufacturing Research Centres, Catapults and similar innovative forms of
organisations, are likely to become more prevalent and significant. These
will be based around world class universities and promoting closer working
relationships. This opens up the possibility that the potential game changers
for manufacturing lie in organisational innovations, as much as in technical
inventions (see below).
The potential for a hub and satellite configuration is also likely to be consistent
with the trend towards re-configurable extended enterprises (see later).
How important is process and product innovation in shaping the Factory of the Future?
Can you provide examples of such innovation?
10.
Product and process innovation are seen as absolutely essential, as
competitive ‘givens’. But there were also various nuances to the argument.
Firstly, not all such innovations need to be disruptive – continuing incremental
improvement is seen as key. In passing we note that a fine example is
provided by the British Olympic cycling team with its emphasis on continuing
marginal gains, across all aspects of its operations and performance
(including bike technology, clothing design, training regimes, diet, health,
facilities, squad selection, the culture – the whole system). Indeed, some
believe that evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes are a key element
of the FoF. In this view there are considerable potential gains to be made by
understanding and implementing what is already known about manufacturing
as a system and performing it at a world class level.
As one might expect, there is a powerful counter argument. Thus, whilst it
makes sense for the British cycling infrastructure to strive to evolve through
continuous improvement across all of its activities, they are already world
leaders. What about those trailing behind (i.e. the majority)? A view strongly
held by some is that UK manufacturing needs a revolution in its thinking and
its practices, a cultural shift no less. Incremental improvements will not be
enough.
Secondly, as mentioned earlier, important as they are, innovation is not solely
a matter of new technologies. There are other important forms of innovation,
examples including new business models (such as servitisation, see later),
new offerings and new organisational arrangements. Examples of the first are
provided by Rolls-Royce in its development of ‘power by the hour’. Examples
of the second are provided by Toyota which is exploiting its capability to
design and deploy robot technology in manufacturing to develop robots for
use in the home, and its capability to store energy to operate the home and
the family car as an integrated energy system. Examples of organisational
innovations include new forms of collaboration between manufacturing
companies and universities (such as the AMRC model developed by Boeing,
Rolls-Royce, a range of SMEs and the University of Sheffield).
Thirdly, these kinds of innovation may well be linked. Thus, whilst it’s hard
to predict what may be the technical game changers of 2030 and beyond,
it is clear that some companies will be better placed to respond to the
opportunities that arise because of their closeness to the sources of invention
and their agility in responding and capitalising on the opportunities presented.
Fourthly, some argued that companies are better at their product innovations
than they are at process innovation/improvement, for which there are many
reasons. Process innovation can be difficult because it can involve changes
in technology, work organisation, working practices, skills, metrics and the
like. Furthermore, product innovation is usually the initial focus and prime
driver, and once products are established, attention turns to the process
of making the product more efficiently. As implied above, it was felt that
innovation should be addressed as an integrated system, as changes in one
aspect will often necessitate changes in the other. A prime example of this
23
What will be the impact of ‘servitisation’? Is this likely to increase?
What will be the impact of other changes in underlying business models and emerging standards
in this area?
12.
11.
The major changes are reported in the value chain emphasis, an improved
understanding of supply chains, the potential for supply parks and the
increasing use of technology to become competitive. The technologies will
be important enablers in the realisation of the reconfigurable factory (and
the wider reconfigurable enterprise) with the ability to manufacture a range
of products. This need for rapid transition from one product to another will
be aided by greater use of distributed manufacture where components
are made locally within the supply park. Few radical changes in underlying
business models were reported, though there was recognition of the string
emerging trend towards servitisation.
Evidence of risk reward sharing models has already been seen in the
aerospace sector. Due to the increasing cost and complexity of developing
new aircraft, there is likely to be an increasing emphasis on true risk reward
sharing in sectors with high development costs.
In the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors there
was pressure from businesses to change the regulatory framework in order
to permit innovation and manufacturing economics in a market place where
the pharmaceutical blockbuster is no longer achievable, and where product
technologies are now convergent. This was in striking contrast to the results
of a similar exercise carried out in 2007 where the perspective was that the
FoF would fit within the existing direction of travel of the regulation. Such
changes will require both public debate on the role of the regulator and
the generation of evidence, using regulatory science, to permit regulatory
change.
The impact of regulation has also been broadly recognised within Europe
(in particular Germany) to identify that the regulatory burden in Europe when
compared to other candidate locations, in particular the BRIC countries,
makes it problematic to construct new manufacturing capacity – factories –
within a competitive timescale. This therefore accelerates the potential for
the offshoring of manufacturing.
Leadership in the setting of standards was seen as especially important
for the enabling of new business models, in particular the creation and
operation of the new generation of complex distributed manufacturing and
supply systems that are necessarily enabled by ICT, and as a strategic way
of gaining share in emerging industries. There is the potential for the UK to
take a leadership role in the creation of such standards.
Servitisation is moving us into the fourth generation for manufacturing
business models in the UK. This is a powerful concept that is not well
understood. Servitisation is about manufacturers offering services tightly
coupled to their products. It is about moving from a transactional (just
selling a product) to a relationship based business model (delivering
a capability). In a servitisation model, manufacturers see themselves
as service providers. For example, by the provision of product based
services, as contract manufacturers supplying skills and manufacturing
capacity, and the transformation from machine makers to the provision of
manufacturing processes within an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
They exploit their own IP (know how/ know why emerging from design and
production competence) to deliver and improve business processes for
their customers. Generally, companies have long-term, incentivised (risk &
revenue), ‘pay as you go’ contracts. Clearly it will be necessary to generate
enabling technologies to permit servitisation, in particular the information
technology to permit remote monitoring of enterprises, products, processes
and machines.
The interviews highlighted that many companies have not considered
servitisation as an appropriate business model. In the West, servitisation
is likely to gain popularity as it enables the supplier to increase the level of
supply and it can tighten the relationship between supplier and customer.
From a customer viewpoint, servitisation can change a large capital
expenditure into a more controllable and predictable revenue spend.
Examples of companies using servitisation include:
• Rolls-Royce offers TotalCare or power-by-the hour contracts: reporting
that approximately 50% of its ongoing revenue now originates from such
service agreements.
• Alstom offers train life services with Virgin using the Pendalino trains on
the west coast mainline.
• MAN offers fleet management packages for trucks. This includes
companies such as Shell.
• Xerox has a managed print service for Fiat group, Proctor & Gamble and
has this year reported 50% of total revenue from services.
• Toyota offers personal mobility plans.
concerns the increasing use of new composite materials in manufacturing –
such as carbon fibre to manufacture products previously made of metal alloys
– and the very different products and processes resulting from this.
Fifthly, some argued that in Europe we still under-utilise a major source
of improvement, i.e. people on the ground. In this view, the people near
the action have lots of good ideas, but these are often not developed and
implemented (and this does not just apply to shop-floor staff).
Finally, there is an important change in mindset that will help shape the FoF.
The traditional view, i.e. that manufacturing should focus on operating the
latest technologies and processes that need controlling and managing under
regimes of command and control, is due for replacement (and this is one
part of the cultural revolution referred to earlier). The mental model for the
FoF is that these are centres of creativity and innovation, where capable and
talented people use the latest technologies and processes to create new
ways of adding value. Furthermore, manufacturing companies are more likely
to be in a position to do this by working closely with customers, suppliers and
universities. This is a world of challenge, interest and excitement requiring
significant change in management and leadership.
24
What are the other trends shaping the Factory of the Future, for example:13.
a) The green agenda (reducing energy, water, waste)
b) Changes in management practices and processes
c) Changes in communications practices and social networks
d) Changes in demands for proximity to customers
e) Changes in the costs of resources
f) Changes in the costs of transportation
g) Changes in performance metrics – e.g. increased emphasis on quality,
lead times and customer satisfaction, as opposed to machine utilisation
and efficiencies
h) Changes in regulatory frameworks – e.g. in health and pharma?
i) Changes in the speed at which research and development innovations
get translated into use and get widely deployed? (e.g. will such lead
times get shortened?)
These are all seen as important and many have been covered elsewhere
in this report. Here we restrict ourselves to some summary views and
comments.
a. The green agenda is seen as important, especially acknowledging
the need to reduce energy and waste – “zero waste” was a mantra for
many. Recycling extends to the end of the life cycle and companies like
Rolls-Royce and Toyota are investing considerable effort in this regard.
Reduction in the amount of materials used in the product and transported
was identified as critical; material content per unit must be reduced and
kg miles should be a metric for the whole supply chain. Less emphasis
was placed by this sample of participants on the need to reduce the use
of water, but this is believed to become an issue for the FoF.
There are some strong role models here. For example, Toyota stress that it
is making green products (hybrid cars), using green processes in a green
factory, operated by green employees who are encouraged to take their
green behaviours home (they are offered training and qualifications in this).
The company also has a nature reserve at its Burnaston factory, which is
unusual in our experience.
b. Changes in management practices and processes were discussed under
question 10.
c. Changes in communications practices and social networks/social
media were mainly seen as significant through the potential immediacy
of customer feedback, especially if things go wrong as it has the
potential for widespread reputational damage. We note however, that
this is one area where our sample is likely to be biased, selected as
they were because of their experience, the corollary of which is that
their age may mitigate against them being well developed about this
subject. For example, the new media have the potential to link globally
dispersed communities. In the case of companies such as Rolls-Royce
for whom more than 50% of their order book involves services (rather
than products), such technologies provide opportunities to create new
social networks between design communities in one part of the world
with service communities spread around the globe. Similarly, such
technologies will have the capability to provide informal social networks
between people working in hub and satellite configurations.
Such media is part of the habitual pattern of life for Generation Y and it will
become important aspects of the effective operation of the FoF, probably
evolving in ways we currently do not anticipate.
d. Changes in demands for proximity are seen as an issue, in part related
to the costs of transportation (see 13f below) but also to the need for
greater understanding across the supply chain, and with customers.
The proposition is that proximity helps promote understanding, which is
desirable. Indeed some major manufacturers strongly encourage their
suppliers to have a local base (e.g., Nissan in Sunderland). (See also 13f
below).
e. Changes in the costs of resources are supporting the waste minimisation,
green product and sustainable factory initiatives. Energy costs are
continually rising and the FoF will have a range of energy saving devices
such as ground source heat pumps, heat reclamation systems, minimum
quantity lubrication etc. The cost of raw materials also supports the
recycling and high quality reuse of materials, which is a significant
departure from the recycling for low grade use that has been the norm in
the past.
f. Changes in the costs of transportation are seen as significant especially
for bulky parts. In addition, there are two further considerations influencing
choices of suppliers. Firstly, the use of local suppliers is seen as more
likely to promote supply chain understanding and integration. Secondly,
there is a trade-off between lean supply chains and redundancy in
supply. For example, the tsunami in Japan in 2011 created unanticipated
problems for British manufacturing companies (amongst others) because
of disruption of the supply of microchips. Local suppliers make the
potential for such problems more visible and it is recognised that some
redundancy in the system mitigates against partial failure.
g. Changes in performance metrics are seen as very important. The
perceived trend sees a move away from an ‘old fashioned’ operational
focus on machine efficiencies and machine utilisation to more customer-
focussed metrics, centred on the highest quality, shorter lead times, and
customer satisfaction (even delight!).
This is clearly important but it also has far-reaching implications for how
the FoF is managed and operated. Such metrics potentially incorporate the
notion that customers are welcome in the factory, that employees know who
their customers are and indeed meet them. Manufacturing in this view is not
done in a silo or bubble, and handed over the wall to the next anonymised
stage in the process. Manufacturing has a real user who is known and
understood. It also embraces the notion that the employee is a skilled and
talented partner engaged in this process.
h. Changes in regulatory frameworks are seen as especially important in
areas such as the life sciences and this is discussed earlier in this report.
It is important that regulatory frameworks do not function in a way that
disadvantages UK manufacturing.
25
i. The speed at which research and development innovations get translated
into use and widespread deployment generated some interesting
discussions, often focussing on the links between manufacturing industry
and UK universities. Two disparate views emerged. Some believed we in
the UK have got this about right, and we are improving as we would hope.
Universities are better linked to manufacturing than ever before and there
are R&D schemes available and in use.
However, a much more critical perspective was also offered. In this view
we are woefully inadequate and there are untapped opportunities in both
directions. Thus, manufacturing companies have need for the latest
thinking, for new ideas, for innovation (and not just in engineering and
technology). Universities have thousands of talented people potentially
looking for projects, R&D opportunities and exposure to the day-to-day
reality of operations. Furthermore, universities are perpetually refreshing
their skills and capabilities through young talent and aspiration. There are
considerable opportunities to bring the two together in real and substantial
long term relationships. There are some world class trail-blazers in this
regard, most obviously companies such as Rolls-Royce and their global
network of University Technology Centres and Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centres. However, these are the exceptions.
In our view, this represents a major missed opportunity, especially, if, as
a nation we are opting for the innovation/valued added route for the FoF.
Put another way, the FoF will need University partners. This will require a
cultural shift. Furthermore, organisational innovations of this kind enable
manufacturing companies to capitalise on technical innovations as they
arise.
26
What do you think are the potential game changers for manufacturing?
i.e., things that will lead to a genuine shift in the factory of the future
14.
Game changers are seen as:
• Value chain and systems thinking at a value chain level.
• A focus on reconfigurable enterprises (including reconfigurable factories)
including technologies such as robotics and 3D printing, which could
make single customised part production a reality.
• New raw materials, for example graphene and new materials derived
from plants and other living natural materials.
• The changing of the regulatory environment in healthcare to permit
product innovation and manufacturing economies. This is now being
demanded by the industry.
• The increasing affordability and commoditisation of production
technology – competitive advantage deriving from the know-how of
understanding how to operate it.
• The UK becoming a low/lower cost country.
• New ways of working together, involving supply chains and universities.
• New mindsets on the FoF, based on the requirement for world class
organisation, people and technology working to find creative and
innovative ways of adding value.
. How do views on the factory of the future vary between nations? In particular comparing: China,
US, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
What do you think is causing these differences?
15.
The world is much more connected than it has been in the past, enabled
both by technological advances and the growth of multi-national
corporations and consultancies. Innovations of all kinds have the potential
for widespread adoption. It would appear that earlier scepticism over the
extent to which good ideas from one culture can be translated and adopted
elsewhere have been answered, for example by the successes of Toyota and
Nissan operations in the UK.
There are a number of initiatives in Europe considering future manufacturing
processes. Recent investment has also led the USA to undertake exploratory
research into future manufacturing. Recent US thinking recognises the
critical ‘inflection band’ between ‘demonstrating viability’ and ‘scaling
production’.
While the West is still a world leader in some areas, it must maintain its
manufacturing base. In recent times, the outsourcing of manufacturing
to other regions with low labour costs has resulted in some disruptions.
Furthermore, outsourcing of core manufacturing activities has the potential
to lead to a decline in associated knowledge and capability, with attendant
development of new capabilities elsewhere. This has far reaching
implications.
Through the post-war period there has been a progressive shift in
manufacturing from West to East. Asia has changed rapidly and will continue
to do so. China is advancing in science and technology and, when allied
with its low labour costs and vast population, its manufacturing capability
will increase dramatically. Japan, Singapore, and South Korea are already
highly technologically advanced and leading the world in many areas. A
major strength of theirs is the integration of micro technologies into products,
with photonics being a prime example. Some believe their progress is partly
driven by large government subsidies and by very substantial investments in
their university systems.
Whilst the profiles of capability and opportunity may vary when comparing
mature and rapidly developing economies (including BRIC), we have found
no evidence that this has resulted in different mental models regarding the
FoF. So far, as we have been able to ascertain, the summary presented in
figure 5 has widespread applicability and support.
27
What trends will affect the Factory of the Future as far out as 2050?
17.
The FoF is a concept that brings together best practice and optimum
working procedures and systems. The FoF could give the UK considerable
competitive advantage but if the demand for global trading grows as
predicted, the FoF may need to be transplanted into other locations
worldwide. If this happens it will be difficult to keep the competitive
advantage without further continual improvement.
Within the next 10 years over 30% of our most experienced engineers
will retire. In addition, there remains a shortage of women working in
manufacturing and this exists at all levels and in most, if not all, skillsets.
One of the greatest challenges will be to attract a new generation of
knowledgeable and innovative forward thinkers to create the FoF.
The younger generation are increasingly aware of the green agenda and
the need to reduce energy usage and develop sustainable manufacturing
processes and there is a trend towards optimum sizing of production
equipment, reducing waste and material and energy use.
The emerging economies (BRIC) and the implications of trading with these
countries could impact in a number of areas including the availability of rare
materials, availability of energy and resources, potential market and the
need to develop a local supply chain.
The products of 2050 will have crossovers between traditionally separate
aspects and technologies within a design (e.g. the systems and battery
supplies of vehicles and aerospace products will probably be increasingly
embedded in the structures, to save on weight and minimise assembly
including electronics, pipes, optics, etc.). Complex high integrity electronic
processing and health monitoring can be embedded into structures with
minimal impact on unit cost, no impact on weight.
Specific tooling in aerospace and automotive manufacturing will have largely
been eliminated as these are expensive and dedicated items. An example
being the progress already made and planned with the 787 production line
for minimal and flexible tooling is the start of the process of tool elimination
rather than as far as it can go. The next generations of products, both
military and civil will take this further with a tool free or transient adaptive
tooling being the competitive edge in 2050.
Multi product manufacturing in factories will be common, where the flexibility
of the manufacturing processes and assembly capabilities will enable
different products to be made simultaneously and the optimum production
rates on each product will continually change to meet market demand.
A completely digital design and development environment will be evident
- with the elimination of many of the high cost test facilities such as wind
tunnels and electromagnetic facilities. Modelling and simulation will be at a
level of fidelity that will allow formal evidence to be accepted from the virtual
world, with only very occasional real world validation. This is a key aspect
to rapid design and the increased use of independent computing that can
design with a reduced need for design engineers. The ability to rapidly
iterate and synthetically integrate complex products to prototype and then to
full production standard would produce a significant competitive edge with
multiple variants able to be considered before production.
The eco/green drivers will have eliminated many of the processes that use
chemical treatments and new techniques such as laser/sonic treatments for
cleaning and finishing will be well established, which will complement the
water jet cutting environments.
Power usage in manufacturing will also be minimised. The economic
position of the nation will determine the pressure on costs, but clearly a
nation that still relies on fossil fuels will be struggling in this time frame when
it comes to cost and acceptability of excessive energy usage.
Powering the FoF 2050 will be potentially a significant factor. The eco drivers
will have a major influence on how the factory is powered and there may be
a demand for very difficult challenges surrounding carbon footprints and
self-sufficiency.
Will there be a competitive advantage to be able to take back products
and recycle when out of use? Currently recycling is largely indirect in how
for example vehicles (cars, aircraft etc.) are recycled. In the FoF will there
be a requirement to employ technology that allows direct disassembly and
reuse?
Research work on the use of metastable materials and morphing should
be mature enough for new structures to be envisaged. This would
allow materials to change state and morph into new structures by the
implementation of inbuilt rules and controlling embedded systems. This is at
a low level of technical maturity today but has high potential for aerospace
and military products, so it would be reasonable to assume availability
by 2050.
How should the UK respond to any suggestions of what the Factory of the Future would look like?
Can the UK benefit by being ahead of the game?
16.
This report signals the trends affecting the FoF, not its end state and
identifies the requirement for Modern Re-industrialisation in the UK. The
authors, and in turn the community we represent, have been challenged to
put our vision for the FoF ‘on steroids’. As we do this, we should recognise
that the drivers in each manufacturing nation are different and that we
should use our legacy as a differentiator as do the Germans, Swedes and
Swiss. We need to work out what the business model is for manufacturing
in UK plc. – the UK must have, and maintain, an unbeatable
value proposition.
We also need to define the future state of manufacturing together.
This process should engage the young who will work in manufacturing and
those who will invest in it. As one of our interviewees said; “We must not be
incremental and muddle along, we need to work from the future state. We
are not going to get rich quick; you have to be good before you can
get rich.”
Our recommendations for how the UK responds to the emerging
opportunities for the Factory of the Future are summarised in the final
section below.
28
3. Analysis of sectoral perspectives
This can be compared to the more traditional aerospace assembly facility, which assembles
smaller components (figure 8).
The UK supply chain will need to produce competitively priced components against global
competition.
Aero engine manufacturers are following the same model, which is dictating the design
of the FoF. Suppliers (including in-house suppliers) will need to provide competitive
components using an appropriate level of automation and flexibility. As volumes are
lower; specialist manufacturing lines are not appropriate and flexible cells capable of
manufacturing families of parts for a range of engines is more appropriate.
Figure 7: Boeing 787 Assembly facility showing limited
use of tooling.
(Photograph reproduced with kind permission of the
Boeing Company).
Figure 8: Traditional aircraft assembly facility (Boeing
767) showing the dependence on large tooling facilities
(Photograph reproduced with kind permission of the
Boeing Company).
The facility relies on a global supply chain with wings manufactured in Japan, cockpit manufactured in
Wichita & Kansas, USA, and other key components manufactured in the UK and Italy. The facility uses
GPS and laser alignment technologies during assembly.
The next commercial aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Airbus will be the next generation
150 seat designs, which will replace the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. These are likely to
be replaced early in the 2020s. In each case the key decisions will relate to the fuselage
and wing materials - the options being aluminium or composite fuselage and aluminium or
composite wings. This decision will have huge implications on the manufacturing methods
and potentially the location of the assembly facilities and supply chain.
From a UK perspective the major interest will be that the wing for the replacement A320 is
manufactured in the UK. Additionally, UK companies will compete to supply both aircraft
manufacturers with wing components and major components such as flight controls, control
surfaces and landing gear. Given the product life cycle it is clear that the manufacturing
methods used will be based on existing technologies. It is also clear that the design of the
FoF is already defined.
The assembly facilities will continue to follow the large scale system integrator model
originally developed in the automotive industry to bring together large monolithic parts. The
facility will be clean, well-organised and use a minimum amount of tools and fixtures. This is
demonstrated in the Boeing 787 assembly facility shown in figure 7.
i) Aerospace
In aerospace, the product life cycle is typically 50 years. Aerospace is also highly regulated and the
opportunity to change design and manufacturing methods once an aircraft and components have been
validated is difficult and costly.
29
The automotive industry uses the large-scale system integrator model with a large supply chain. The
assembly lines need to cope with design variations with a high level of customisation. Volumes are much
larger than aerospace but there is considerable variation in models and vehicle specifications. Products
are segmented from low to high end offerings with European suppliers tending to focus on high end,
high value products for international markets.
ii) Automotive
The automotive product life cycle is much shorter than aerospace but the
manufacturing volumes are much higher. Traditionally, automotive factories
were characterised by large investments in fixed automation. This is being
replaced by more flexible and reconfigurable automation including robotics.
The system can be classified as mass customisation, combining mass
production and customisation. This is achieved by rigorous production
control, lean manufacturing and a highly developed and organised supply
chain.
Suppliers need to produce large volumes of components at a competitive
price. The need for fast ramp up and automation in the supply chain is
pushing the design of the FoF which will be much as described earlier, i.e.
flexible, easily reconfigurable, automated and capable of fast ramp up.
The leading players in automotive demonstrate an emphasis on customer
oriented goals, simple and robust processes, advanced technologies, a
culture of continuous improvement and capable people. They exemplify
a commitment to a systems approach to designing and managing their
manufacturing environment.
The current automotive supply chain is dominated by engine and power
train supply, body-in-white manufacturing and components supply. The
increased hybridisation of the drive train to include both electrical, fuel
cell and internal combustion engine prime movers will continue to affect
manufacturing as will the inevitable increase in the electronic content of
cars.
Automotive was identified by a number of interviewees as a sector where
personalisation of the product is becoming increasingly desirable and where
there is advantage in the customer seeing ‘their car’ being manufactured.
This suggests that the late personalisation of a standard product and open
customer access will be part of the automotive FoF.
30
iii) Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing
Note: This overview does not specifically consider the cell and gene
therapy sectors. Further study is required to expand the distinction
between ‘manufacturing therapies in the cell’ and ‘manufacturing the
cell as a therapy’ in order to identify applicable cross-sectoral learning
from biopharma’ and where additional levels of complexity require further
innovation in the cell and gene therapy value chain.
Many of the trends highlighted (emboldened) below are driven by
capacity uncertainty, product complexity, and the need to minimise
capital/operating expenditure, nancial risk/liability early in the value
chain and increase the speed to market. Typically these trends
reect incremental improvements but the leading edge of the new
pharma’/biopharma’ manufacturing base, seen particularly in vaccine
manufacturing and in niche rare disease and personalised/stratied
medicine, represent transformational changes that are changing the
manner in which material is produced.
• Design and construction of smaller/reduced footprint modular
facilities using standardised facility layouts and process
congurations e.g. National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing
vaccine facility, Texas US; Caliber Biotherapeutics, Texas, US.
• Evolving incorporation/integration of single use (disposable)
upstream and downstream process systems e.g. DSM biologics plant
in Brisbane, Australia; the Shire cell processing facility in Lexington,
US; XCellerex Flexfactory biomanufacturing platform (Boston, US).
• Closed systems with facilities moving towards non-classied (e.g.
Grade D environmental control) operation and more open facility
layouts e.g. ‘GMP in a box’; ‘vaccine factory in a box’ (GE Healthcare,
UK and G-Con, US lead providers).
• Simulation tools for factory layout/bioprocess modelling/technology
transfer e.g. Medimmune biopharma’ facility (Maryland, US) and
vaccine facility (Speke, UK).
• Continuous processing and automation: Process Analytical
Technology (PAT), robotics and platforms for mechanical
manipulation e.g. Novartis-MIT Centre in US/Novartis pilot plant in
Switzerland.
• Increasing complexity of global supply/value chains – local, demand-
Drawing on a review of website information, selected life sciences reports, stakeholder consultation
and internal expertise, this summary provides an overview of the high value manufacturing innovation
landscape in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors, focussing in particular, on the
trends/’hot topics’ that are set to determine the shape and nature of the FoF in these sectors.
Flexible, agile and adaptable production facilities to deliver a new value proposition and business
models incorporating manufacture and delivery of smaller, more frequent, ‘on demand’ batches of
products, and stratified or niche medicines.
led, recongurable for new business models and linked to more agile,
responsive manufacturing operations and improved connectivity/
integration of whole value chain (including the regulator).
• Distributed manufacturing: construction of ‘vital organs’ with local
responsiveness in geographically diverse locations and emerging
markets e.g. for vaccine production.
• Multi-function/multi-product processing suites: intensication in
smaller footprint, scalable/phased modular build.
• Global rationalisation of duplicated ‘big pharma’ plants/supply chains
with move towards global centres/hubs of manufacturing excellence
and local supply chains.
• Bioprocess sustainability focussed on green construction, green
chemistry and reduction in consumption of water, energy and
cleaning chemicals e.g. Centocor Biologics and Pzer biotech plants
in Cork, Ireland.
31
Figure 9: XCellerex Flexfactory
(Photograph reproduced with kind permission XCellerex, Marlborough, MA)
Integration of product design and manufacture –
designed in quality & ‘manufacturability’
These involve:
• Alternative sustainable/renewable sources of material inputs, exploiting
naturally occurring materials and the processes they are derived from
(‘factory in a cell’): for renewable feedstock’s, serum substitutes, and
synthesis of functional biomaterials and biopolymers e.g. Fraunhofer CMI
factory in US - first GMP factory for plant-based protein production.
• Synthetic biology approaches to create new biocompatible material
sources, novel expression systems, and new biological production
systems.
• Nanotechnology enablers.
• Improved formulation design and understanding to increase stability,
eliminate cold chain storage/transport, and eliminate use of serum.
• Simulation/predictive tools for molecular modelling, formulation and
product design.
Smarter Operations - Lean manufacturing/facility layouts and Operational
Excellence for high quality products, zero defects and waste and Novel
delivery systems for therapeutics.
These involve:
• Converging technologies to make ‘smarter’ and/or miniaturised devices
e.g. to monitor/feedback patient health/compliance, control release,
prevent counterfeiting and enable responsive manufacturing (client &
supplier feedback).
Analytics and Characterisation Metrology
These involve:
• Product & process life cycle management tools enabling human centred
operational and facility design; serving as knowledge repositories (in
preparation for live-licensing?).
• Metrology method validation, data standardisation and reference
materials.
• Non-destructive PAT for process feedback control, automated quality
control, real time monitoring and product release.
• Increase analytical power for harvesting large data sets (diagnostic,
genomic).
• High throughput systems and micro-bioreactors for rapid process
development and better process understanding.
Regulatory Science
Emerging regulatory uncertainties/challenges for the FoF include: quality
standardisation/use of single use equipment and (re-biocompatibility;
leachables/extractables); manufacture and standardisation of synthetic
biology derived material; implementation of continuous manufacturing and
multiproduct; metrology standardisation and validation; specific issues
related to manufacture and supply of personalised/stratified/lifestyle
medicines, convergent technologies, biosimilars/biobetters, including
arising conflicts between biosafety (containment), and GMP, validation of
comparability to allow process change and manufacturing and supply
economies. The balance of product and process innovation and patient
benefit and safety is debatable.
32
4. Conclusions and recommendations
The study was based on a review of published material and structured interviews with senior executives
from large companies and SMEs in Europe, USA and Japan, along with international experts in the area.
From this review it is clear that to be competitive, the UK needs a national strategy and it is important to maintain focus on manufacturing policy, including
technology demonstrators and procurement. In this respect the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (which is represented by one of the authors) is a valuable
initiative, and one which supports the direction of travel indicated in this report. The concept of the Factory of the Future (Factory 2050) provides a focus for
manufacturing research roadmaps and will support further initiatives in other industrial sectors.
One integrating perspective emerged during our interviews and discussions. In this view the Factory of the Future is a complex system, itself embedded in
an extended enterprise involving suppliers, customers and other partners who have the potential to add value (such as local Universities and schools). This
perspective is summarised in figure 10 below.
Figure 10: Characteristics of the Factory of the Future
33
In this view the Factory of the Future has sets of goals and metrics focussed on meeting the needs
of customers and a wider green agenda. The factory works closely within the supply chain and has
partnership agreements with local universities and schools, between which there is a sustained flow of
people, projects and ideas. This represents the open culture which emphasises creativity and innovation,
rather than command and control.
All this is supported by the physical environment, which is open and
welcoming. It is clean and fresh. It has a ‘wow’ factor that attracts people to
join. In general, these factories are small and near their customers.
The technologies support the above. They are integrated through design,
manufacture, service and supply, promoting and enabling interaction
between the various partners. Social media and big data are used routinely.
The organisation and culture are agile enough to accommodate disruptive
technologies as and when they become available.
The people are talented and have continuing opportunities for development,
working in integrated teams that are empowered and responsible. These are
knowledge-workers and problem-solvers. People may start apprenticeships
when they are in their 40s and 50s with plenty to offer and plenty to learn.
Men and women are equally represented at all levels.
The processes and practices are agile, cutting through internal and external
silos. The systems are simple to communicate and understand. The
factory and wider system employ innovative business models (such as
servitisation).
For the operator of the factory this delivers a responsive enterprise that
is key to their business model and value, delivery to the market and
consequently long-term profitability. This remains economically sustainable
by continually addressing the manufacturing touchstones – “better, faster,
cheaper, cleaner” - and by its critical place in local innovation eco-system.
It is important to note that this perspective is not offered as a universally
applicable template for the design of the Factory of the Future. Clearly there
will be variations and some of the key factors influencing such variability are
described below. However, this perspective represents a template for wide
and serious consideration.
The table below takes a sectoral view of the FoF and some of the individual
factors that influence the design of the FoF. For instance, in aerospace the
desire for localised supply parks needs to be considered against the desire
to meet offset and international trading requirements.
Table 2: Factors influencing the design of the Factory of the Future
Automotive Civil, aero-engines
and airframe
Life Sciences Fabricated Metal and
Plastics
Generic drivers
Social Continued demand for
personal transport
More people
Large emerging middle
class in BRIC
Continued demand
for inexpensive
international travel
Huge growth
internationally
Population growth
and ageing in old
economies
Individuals must bear
more of cost of health
care
Reputation of
manufacturing
Skills exit
Large population
growth
Growing global middle
class
Technical Electrification of power
train
Electronics content
Battery development
Composites and new
materials
Personalised
medicines
Biologics
Commoditisation
of manufacturing
technology
Continuous change
and uncertainty
Automation
Social media
Big data
Economic New entrant countries
dramatically lowering
cost
EU high end
Emergence of niche
luxury players
New developments
need a continental
scale investment
Embraer like niche
players
Pharma business
model not sustainable
Cash flow
Cost of capital
Competition in Europe
(Swiss, German,
Czech, Sweden)
Education and skills
Strengthening BRIC
Distributed
manufacturing
Regional specialisation
Environmental Greening of product
Sustainable
manufacturing
Greening of product
Sustainable
manufacturing
Environmental second
order driver
Carbon/Energy
surcharge
Sustainable
manufacturing
Sustainability
Environmental driven
taxation
Political Greening
Impact of taxation
Offset obligations
Greening
Fuel duty
Governments unable to
sustain cost
Regulatory rebalancing
SMEs
Regulation/
Bureaucracy
(Leaning)
34
It appears that there are few major, shorter-term (before 2030) game-
changing manufacturing technologies that have the potential to revolutionise
manufacturing or lead us to completely rethink the concept of the FoF. The
technologies required in the FoF are largely already available. The FoF will
make better use of the technologies - developing a better understanding
of how to get the best from the technologies available, and improve levels
of integration. This will require more effective organisation and processes,
operated by talented and highly skilled individuals. Supporting software and
systems will make the technologies easier to access, monitor and control.
Moreover, adaptive control will tend towards self-learning and there will be
emphasis on fast ramp up and the transition from manual manufacture of
first prototypes, through semi-automation to fully automated systems.
The potential exception is Advanced Multi Material Additive Layer
Manufacture (ALM a.k.a.3D printing) which could be very significant.
It is inevitable in the timeframe that complex (combined metallic and
synthetic/macro and nano) structures and systems will be created.
There is considerable potential to produce rapidly customised high value
products. ALM was cited as having potential to meet the requirements of
manufacturing a batch size of one in a reconfigurable factory. Indeed linking
large-scale additive manufacturing and robotics was identified as one form
of a FoF. ALM offers the potential for consumer driven personalisation,
producing customised prosthetics and made to measure implants produced
direct from MRI scans.
The Urbee car1 is the result of collaboration between Winnipeg engineering
group, Kor Ecologic, which designed the vehicle, and Stratasys (additive
manufacturing machine). Stratasys2 is responsible for printing all the
vehicle’s exterior components using fused deposition modelling (FDM),
which allowed the elimination of tooling, machining & handiwork and
improved efficiency when a design change is needed. (Automotive X prize
2010)
There are many initiatives in more mainstream manufacturing, which are
looking to utilise and qualify many materials. The combination of the above
will become very potent for an industrial revolution in the 2050 timeframe.
The challenge with 3D printing is seen as the speed of build and the
weakness in the direction of build (z direction). The speed could be
addressed using mass parallel printing to produce complex structures and
volume parts. Red Eye3 from the USA has invested in sets of deposition
machines which can currently produce around 5000 parts from an initial
request in about 2 weeks – and each part can be different. Their business
has a growth rate forecast of 30% year-on-year due to increased demand.
They produce parts that have started in the low risk prototype and tooling
and now also produce some qualified parts that have gone into products
such as the ICON A5, which is in low rate production.
The meetings with high level stakeholders, senior industrialists and
academics suggested that the concept of the Reconfigurable Factory
needed a more detailed explanation. It is fair to say that the concept and
implications of the ‘Reconfigurable Factory’ are not fully appreciated and
it is worthwhile expanding this concept in more detail. The Reconfigurable
Factory will have the ability to switch instantaneously between products
being manufactured, for example, from an automotive component to an
aerospace component.
This will not require the instantaneous changeover of programmes,
tooling, sub-assemblies and raw materials. This cannot happen without a
step change in the design and operation of manufacturing systems and
technologies.
The highly desirable ‘Reconfigurable Factory’ requires major advances in,
and integration of, many of the technologies we are currently familiar with.
For instance advanced robotics, internal GPS systems, adaptive control,
adaptive learning, modelling and simulation of the working environment,
systems and processes, virtual reality modelling, simplified ITC systems,
plug-and-play machine tools and robots, flexible and intelligent fixtures and
integrated tooling systems all linked to the human aspects that will make the
system operable.
The extensive use of co-operating robotics will support flexible
manufacturing. Co-operation allows speed and flexibility in a -dimensional
space and is way beyond the traditional use of robotics in the automotive
industry. This will offer western factories a revolution that dramatically
reduces their workforce cost base (by significant automation and manning
reduction). This would shift the skill base of the workforce increasingly
towards the higher level skills associated with the technologies listed above.
By 2050 a large proportion of those roles may also have migrated to a
more artificial intelligent based computing based environment. This clearly
generates questions around the volume of employment in the FoF 2050.
The drive for flexibility and multi role capabilities of robots will produce
robots with increasing faculties, sensors (vision, touch etc.) accuracy of
implementation, and speed. The flexibility will be greater enhanced by
the use of multi role heads and complex multi robot interactions. Multi
role heads will include very accurate drilling, metallic spray, sanding and
potentially cutting guided by internal GPS / positioner technology.
It is clear that ‘design for manufacturing’ will be a recognised differentiator
with new methods being a key part of the intellectual property. The
automated sequencing of complex manufacturing activity will also become a
differentiating science in its own right. By 2050 the flexibility of operating for
the interacting robotic heads will have created a complexity of operation that
will move the FoF into a toolset driven engineering / manufacturing interface.
The ultimate benefit of this integrated environment could be the design
and manufacture of quite diverse products using the same manufacturing
and assembly environment. This is clearly an attractive option for the
manufacture of low volume, high value products and components.
The ‘big idea’ is that the extended enterprise (incorporating the factories,
integrated value chains, and stakeholders such as local Universities and
schools) is re-configurable to meet changing demands and needs in order
to respond to customers.
Interestingly, the concept of cloud computing or cloud manufacturing was
not mentioned by any of the interviewees, but the idea of localised supply
parks and ‘resource pools’ alludes to there being potential for some form
of cloud or distributed manufacturing. These could be important enablers
in the reconfigurable enterprise, which is the natural extension to the
reconfigurable factory. The reconfigurable enterprise will have the ability
to manufacture a range of products. This will involve rapid changeover
within the reconfigurable factory aided by increasing use of distributed
manufacture where components are made locally within the supply park.
1 www.urbee.ne
2 www.stratasys.com/resources/case-studies/automotive/urbee
3 http://www.redeyeondemand.com
35
Themes previously promoted such as ‘Factory on skids’, ‘Micro Factory
Retail Centres’ and the ‘5-day car’ do not appear on the radar for the FoF.
The general trend is towards smaller, manageable, clean, well-organised,
highly flexible factories that contain updated but traditional technologies
that can be quickly ramped up to meet volume and changing market
requirements. Customer focus and personalisation of product is recognised
as being of increasing importance and it is clear that in the longer term
there will be a need for centralised mass production facilities and localised
facilities to personalise the product.
Future factories will tend towards flatter management structures with a more
highly skilled and IT literate work force focussing more on optimisation,
monitoring and controlling processes. This will lead to de-skilling of
traditional skills such as machining and welding and reskilling in the new
advanced technologies, the soft skills in managing operations effectively,
and understanding & working with the customer.
One striking factor in this survey has been the emphasis of interviews on
the importance of the value chain. The ability to create and operate a value
chain that collectively delivers a unique value proposition to the user market
is seen as the most significant source of future competitive advantage.
Businesses need this understanding and the skills and capabilities to both
create the value chain as an integrated system – the key step – and to
operate it. Materials management and resource conservation is also critical
in the design and operation of the supply chain as reflected in the Japanese
concept of ‘Monozukuri’.
A further opportunity arises through capitalising on the largely untapped
potential for collaboration between manufacturing companies and UK
universities. In this view, manufacturing companies have need for the
latest thinking, for new ideas and for innovation (and not just in engineering
and technology). Universities are perpetually refreshing their skills and
capabilities through young talent with aspirations, and have thousands of
talented people potentially looking for R&D opportunities. Whilst there are
some excellent role models who manage these relationships well, there are
opportunities to bring these communities together in real and substantial
long term relationships that benefit all parties and the UK.
Potential game changers include advances in materials enabled by
materials science. This includes graphene and nano-materials, new surface
coatings, new composite materials and resins including bio-composites,
and biologically derived and natural, living materials. Perhaps just as
important however, are game changers in our vision for the Factory of the
Future and its organisational arrangements. This study is clear – the FoF
will require world-class organisation, people and technology working to find
creative and innovative ways of adding value.
Put another way, the potential game changers are not seen as purely
technological in origin. Some are contextual and reflect the growth of the
BRIC economies which will mean that we have to radically improve our
factories of the future. This will require the attraction and development of
more talent at the very time we are squeezed by an ageing workforce and
one that currently employs too few women.
The emerging mental model for the FoF is of centres of creativity and
innovation, embedded in effective networks of relationships (for example
with suppliers and universities) where capable and talented people use
world-class technologies and processes to create new ways of adding
value. This is a world of challenge, interest and excitement.
The authors of this report were asked to include some recommendations
for a UK response to the findings emerging from this study. At this stage we
wish to make recommendations in eight inter-related areas concerned with
the development of:
• More integrated and optimised supply/value chains and the standards
that will enable them.
• Stronger long term collaborations between manufacturing companies and
UK universities to improve innovative thinking and the rate and uptake of
R&D.
• A focus on both organisational and technical innovation, each feeding off
each other.
• A systems view of the FoF, integrating people, organisation and
technology.
• The design of agile, reconfigurable factories and extended enterprises.
• A rebalancing of the regulatory framework to enable the rapid construction
of the next generation of factories in Europe and to permit manufacturing
innovation, in particular for life sciences.
• A clear and sustainable UK vision that factories of the future are centres of
creativity and innovation, embedded in effective networks of relationships,
where talented people use the latest technologies and processes to
create new ways of adding value.
• Recognition that this will require a significant cultural shift both in how
manufacturing organisations operate and in how they are perceived.
Some might argue that this list is probably not particularly surprising.
However, we take a different view. Thus, if manufacturing companies in
the UK were able to deliver the changes listed above, then that would
represent a major cultural shift, with the potential for improved innovation
and competitiveness. Such changes would make people want to work in
manufacturing, thereby attracting, developing and retaining the talent that is
needed.
36
1. Bi Z. M., Lang S. Y. T., Shen W. and Wang L. (2009) Reconfigurable manufacturing systems: the state of the art, International Journal of
Production Research, Vol. 46, No. 4, 15 February 2008, 967–992, Taylor Francis, UK.
2. Ezell S. J. and Atkinson R.D. (2011) ‘The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy’, The Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation, Washington D.C.
3. Majumdar A. and Szigeti H (2011) “An Action PlanT Vision for Manufacturing” EU FP7 Project, www.actionplant-project.eu
4. Ad-hoc Industrial Advisory Group Factories of the Future PPP, (2010) Factories of the Future PPP; Strategic Multi-Annual Roadmap
5. Welber I (1986) Factory of the Future Int. Symposium of Robot Manipulators: Modelling, Control and Education. IEE Control Systems
Magazine.
6. Bughin J., Chui M. and Manyika J. (2010) “Clouds, big data and smart assets” McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey and Company, San
Francisco
7. Schuh G., Aghassi S., Orilski S., Schubert J., Bambach M., Freudenberg R., Hinke C., and Schiffer M., (2011) “Technology
roadmapping for the production in high-wage countries” Prod. Eng. Res. Dev, Springer Verlag.
8. Westkamper E (2012) “Factories of the Future beyond 2013: A view from Research: The role of ICT”, Fraunhofer-Institut für
Produktionstechnik Und Automatisierung (IPA) Stuttgart, Germany. Presented at ManuFuture-EU.
9. Communication from the Commission (2010). EUROPE 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, http://
ec.europa.eu/europe2020/documents/related-document-type/index_en.htm
10. European Commission (2012). ICT and Factories of the Future: Results of the First Two Calls for Proposals. Projects launched under
the FP7 ICT Theme in 2010 and 2011. Publications Office of the European Union. ISBN 978-92-79-21484-4
11. Horizon 2020 website http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm
12. European Commission (2012). Impact of the Factories of the Future Public-Private Partnership. Final Report on the Workshop held on
March 15-16, 2012, Brussels.
13. EFFRA (2012). Factories of the Future 2020: Factories of the Future PPP Strategic Multi-annual Roadmap: Validation Edition.
14. Semba. H (2012). Innovation Policy of Japan. Presentation available at: http://www.j-bilat.eu/documents/seminar/as_2/presentation_
as2_hs.pdf
15. Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (2011). Presentation of Japan’s 4th Science & Technology Basic Plan, http://www.mext.go.jp/
component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2012/02/22/1316511_01.pdf
5. References
37
16. Council for Science & Technology (2010). Japan’s Science and Technology Policy Report.
17. Korean Government Taskforce. VISION 2025: Korea’s Long-term Plan for Science and Technology Development, http://unpan1.un.org/
intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN008040.pdf
18. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning. 2nd National S&T Basic Plan 2008-
2012 (577 Initiative).
19. Deloitte (2011). Where is China’s Manufacturing Industry Going? Deloitte China Manufacturing Competitiveness Study
20. Chinese Academy of Sciences (2011). Advanced Manufacturing Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050.
21. State Council, People’s Republic of China (2006). MOST, 2006: The National Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and
Technology Development (2006–20).
22. Ash. R, Porter. R. Summers. T. (2012). China, The EU and China’s Twelfth Five Year Programme
23. Roach. S.S. (2011). China’s 12th Five-Year Plan: Strategy vs. Tactics. Report by Morgan Stanley Asia
24. Executive Office of the President. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2011). Report to the President on
Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing.
25. US Government (2011). State of the Union Factsheet on Manufacturing: President Obama’s Plan to Win the Future by Investing in
Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, http://ase.org/resources/state-union-2011-factsheet-manufacturing
26. Executive Office of the President President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2012). Report to the President on
Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing.
27. FhG ISI (2010). New Future Fields, A Foresight Process Study for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF),
http://www.bmbf.de/pubRD/Foresight-Process_BMBF_New_future_fields.pdf
28. Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) (2010). The High Tech Strategy 2020 for Germany, http://www.bmbf.de/pub/
hts_2020_en.pdf
29. Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) (2007). ICT 2020: research for Innovations.
30. Wahlster. W (2012). Industry 4.0: From Smart Factories to Smart Products. Presentation at Forum Business Meets Research meeting,
22 May 2012, Luxembourg – Kirchberg.
31. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (2011). Step 2015: Science, Technology and Enterprise Plan 2015.
32. O’Sullivan. E (2011). A Review of International Approaches to Manufacturing Research. IfM, Cambridge University
33. Williams, D.J & Hourd, P. (2007). Best Practice: Innovation System Interventions, Report Deliverable (D4.2) for ‘Leading European RTD
Sustained High Value Innovative Production for Manufuture’, Report for Manufuture (EU Leadership Strategic Support Action), 1-147.
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34. Williams. D, J & Hourd, P. (2007). Sectoral Roadmaps: Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device Sector Roadmaps, Report
Deliverable (D2.3) for ‘Leading European RTD Sustained High Value Innovative Production for Manufuture’, Report for Manufuture (EU
Leadership Strategic Support Action), 1-37.
35. Cogent (2010). Life Sciences and Pharmaceuticals: A Future Skills Review with Recommendations to Sustain Growth in Emerging
Technologies. Results of a workshop with Industry and ABPI, 1-47, http://www.cogentssc.com/research/Publications/LSPReport.pdf
36. Price Waterhouse Coopers Report (2007). Pharma 2020: The Vision. Which Path Will You Take?
37. Staton. T (2012). The Future of Biopharma Manufacturing. Fierce Biotech Special Report, 1-7.
38. Technology Strategy Board (2012). The Future of UK Lifesciences Manufacturing Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges for High
Value Manufacturing in the Phamaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Sectors. A consultation for the TSB.
39. Witcher, M.F & Odum, J (2012). Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing in the 21st Century – the Next Generation Manufacturing Facility.
Pharmaceutical Engineering, 32(2), 1-8.
40. Scott, C (2012). Sustainability in Bioprocessing, BioProcess International, 9(10), 25-36.
41. Adams, G. Berg, H. Galbraith, D. McCarthy, P (2011). Trends and New Technology in Vaccine Manufacturing. BioProcess International,
9(8), 28-35.
42. Trout, B (2011). Why Continuous Manufacturing Could be a Pharma Revolution. World Pharma Frontiers, http://www.
worldpharmaceuticals.net/editorials/22/Why-continuous.pdf
43. Thomas, S (2012). Biopharma’s Future Facilities: Smaller Footprints, Complexities, and Costs: A talk with Hyde’s Peter Watler about
trends shaping biopharma facilities today and tomorrow, http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2012/008.html?page=1
44. Dream, R.F (2012). Biopharma’s Flexible Imperative: Business forces, bioterror and pandemic risks demand new approaches to
manufacturing, http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2012/095.html
45. Burgess, L.J & Terblanche, M (2012). The future of the pharmaceutical, biological and medical device industry. Journal of Clinical
Trials, 3, 45-50.
46. Deans, R (2012). Regulation, Manufacturing and Building Industry Consensus. Regenerative Medicine, 7(6), 78-81
47. Shanley, A & Thomas, P (2012). Groundbreakers: Tomorrow’s Drug Manufacturing Facilities: Modular construction and disposable
process equipment are maximizing agility and minimizing risk, http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2012/011.html
Report edited by Cymone Thomas, Technical Editor, The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
39
-
We are interviewing experts in manufacturing about its long term future.
The interview should last around one hour, and, with your permission, we
would like to record it.
We will write up this interview and send you a copy of the notes for your
verification.
When we have a draft of our report, we will send you a copy for comment.
Quotes may be used in the final report. If we wish to use a quote from you,
we will seek your explicit permission. With your permission, we would also
like to include your name in the report as a participant in this work.
We aim to submit a draft report for further discussion by 16 January 2013
You will receive a copy of the final version of the report.
If we may, we may get in touch to discuss future work arising from this
project.
For further details of the project, please visit the Foresight website: http://
www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/current-projects/future-of
manufacturing
Thank you for your time and participation. We hope you find this work both
interesting and useful. We will keep you informed on the next stages of this
study.
Please note, throughout this interview, we would like you to try to answer
each question using a ‘bullet-point’ format – in other words we are seeking a
few short key points under each question.
Appendix 1: Interview schedule
Foresight Future of Manufacturing project
Introductory remarks
This study is being undertaken by researchers from the Universities of Sheffield, Loughborough and Leeds, on behalf of the UK Government Office for
Science (GO-Science).
The aim is to identify the main trends shaping the factory of the future, seeking to provide a timely and
fresh look at the long term picture for the UK manufacturing sector out to 2050. This study is part of a
wider project, due to report in autumn 2013, which will inform thinking on industrial policy.
40
What role could the supply chain play in the factory of the future?
Are you aware of where there is work underway to examine the likely nature of the Factory of the
Future?
(this might be research, development, practice, consultancy)
What are the main findings of this work?
Which factories are currently regarded, internationally, as examples of best practice and why?
(for example, the VW transparent factory in Dresden, and the Nissan factory in Sunderland).
Please cite particular examples you think we should know about.
In which sectors are the traditional views of a factory most likely to be challenged (for example in
pharmaceuticals - factory in a cell/body in a cell1, or chemicals - additive layer manufacturing of a
customised factory2)?
What lessons can be learnt from examining cross-sector issues, e.g. would the Factory of the
Future in the bioscience/pharma sector benefit from thinking in the aerospace/automobile sector
or vice versa?
In what ways might they benefit?
What developments can be expected in the physical arrangements of the Factory of the Future,
i.e. would it be centralised, distributed, or reconfigurable?
Have you witnessed such arrangements being effective?
How does this differ by sector?
Will demand for personalisation of products affect the viability of the current model of a
centralised factory relying on economies of scale (e.g. the rise of ‘single use’ disposable or multi-
use factories)?
Which technological trends (including robotics and new design methodologies) or emerging
technologies (including nano-technologies) are most likely to have a significant impact on the
Factory of the Future?
In what ways will they have an impact?
What role will the workforce play in the factory of the future?
How will this be optimised?
For example will the trend be towards up-skilling staff?
Or deskilling?
Or some combination of both?
Interview questions
Background information
• What is your current role? And for whom do you currently work?
• What are your major areas of expertise in the field of manufacturing?
• In which sectors/industries have you worked?
• In what countries have you worked? And/or held responsibilities?
• For how many years have you worked in the area of manufacturing?
• Have you previously worked in other areas/sectors? If so, in which?
What are the main trends shaping the Factory of the Future?
In your answers please consider the medium term, i.e., as far out as 2020/ 2030
1.
4.
7.
2.
5.
3.
8.
6.
1 Human body on a chip: DARPA – MIT collaboration (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/human-body-on-a-chip-research-funding-0724.html )
2 Chemical Engineering: 3-D printer produces custom vessels for chemical synthesis ( http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i16/Chemical-Reactors-Demand.html )
41
What do you think are the potential ‘game changers’ for manufacturing? i.e., things that will lead
to radical shifts in the factory of the future
How do views on the factory of the future vary between nations? In particular comparing: China,
US, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
What do you think is causing these differences?
How should the UK respond to any suggestions of what the factory of the future would look like?
Can the UK benefit by being ahead of the game?
Do you have any views on trends affecting the factory of the future as far out as 2050?
For example, are these likely to get more global? Or more local? Are they likely to get leaner?
Or to build in redundancy to cover
threats to resilience?
How important is process and product innovation in shaping the factory of the future?
Can you provide examples of such innovation?
What will be the impact of ‘servitisation’? Is this likely to increase?
What will be the impact of other changes in underlying business models and emerging standards
in this area?
What are the other trends shaping the factory of the future, for example including
(NB some of these may already have been touched upon earlier in the interview)
a. The green agenda (reducing energy, water, waste)
b. Changes in management practices and processes
c. Changes in communications practices and social networks/ social media
d. Changes in demands for proximity to customers
e. Changes in the costs of resources
f. Changes in the costs of transportation
g. Changes in performance metrics – e.g., increased emphasis on quality, lead times
and customer satisfaction, as opposed to machine utilisation and efficiencies
h. Changes in regulatory frameworks – e.g., in health and pharma?
i. Changes in the speed at which research and development
innovations get translated into use and get widely
deployed? (e.g., will such lead times
get shortened?)
Interview questions cont...
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
42
In summary then, what do you think are the main trends shaping the
factory of the future?
Is there anything else you wish to add that we haven’t covered in this
interview? What next?
Summary questions
Footnote
If a participant requested a definition of manufacturing, the following was provided:
“Manufacturing is a system of value creating activities required to develop,
produce and deliver goods and services to customers. Activities may stretch from
R&D at one end to recycling at the other.”
Just to summarise:
We will write up this interview and send you a copy of the notes for your verification
We will draft our report and send you a copy for comment
We aim to submit our final report by (relevant date)
You will receive a copy of the final version of the report.
If we may, we may get in touch to discuss future work arising from this project
Thank you
43
50
Appendix 2: Summary of responses to interview questions
The following graphs summarise interviewees’ responses to each question. Only themes mentioned
by over 10% of interviewees are shown, except in question 17 where only one theme reached this
threshold and the most frequent themes are shown. We acknowledge the work of Helen Baker
(University of Leeds) in undertaking the underlying content analysis of the interview data.
Appendix 2: Summary of responses to interview questions
The following graphs summarise interviewees’ responses to each question. Only themes mentioned by
over 10% of interviewees are shown, except in question 17 where only one theme reached this threshold
and the most frequent themes are shown. We acknowledge the work of Helen Baker (University of Leeds)
in undertaking the underlying content analysis of the interview data.
61
26
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
In my own sector Other factory of the future research
% of interviewees
Q1: Are you aware of where there is work underway to examine the
likely nature of the Factory of the Future?
19 19 19
13
0
5
10
15
20
25
Toyota (Burnaston,
Japan)
BMW (Leipzig,
Munich, Hams Hall,
Spartenburg)
VW (Dresden,
Kemnitz)
AESSEAL
(Rotherham)
% of interviewees
Q2: Which factories are currently regarded, internationally, as
examples of best practice and why?
44
51
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
Q3: In which sectors are the traditionalviewsof a factory most
likely to be challenged?
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
More customer Aerospace Automotive Pharmaceutical Additive
26
23
16 16
13
involvement
Q4: What lessonscan
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
manufacturing
be learnt from examiningcrosssector
issues?
71
35 32
16
BeneWicialexercis
%
Currently focuse
Currentl Examine related
to undertak on ownsector fragmented and industries
insular
45
52
45
16
39
13 13 13 13
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
% of interviewees
Q5: What developments can be expected in the physical
arrangements of the Factory of the Future?
13
39
16
29
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Closer to
customers
Self-customisation Urbanisation Industry
dependent
% of interviewees
Q6: Will demand for personalisation of products affect the viability
of the current model of a centralised factory relying on economies
of scale?
46
53
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
Q7: Which technological trends or emerging technologies are most
likely to have a significant impact on the Factory of the Future?
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Automation Information and Biotechnology Nanotechnology Additive
communication manufacturing
technology (ICT)
48
23
26
16
13
Q8: What role will the workforce play in the Factory of the Future?
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Knowledge-based Monitoring rather Upskilling of staff Flexible workflow Deskilling of some
work than doing required staff
74
16 19 16 19
47
54
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Q9: What role could the supply chain play in the Factory of the
Future?
26
19
23
19
16
Global supply Local supply "Glocal" supply More Leaner
chain mainly chain mainly chain collaboration
with suppliers
Q10: How important is process and product innovation in shaping
the Factory of the Future?
61
48
16
Product innovation is Process innovation is Integrated product and
essential essential process innovation
48
55
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Q11: What will be the impact of 'servitisation'?
61
13
Servitisationwill increase Unsure of theeffects
Q12: What will be the impact of other changesin underlying
businessmodels andemergingstandardsin this area?
16
13
Changes inregulations or legislation Unsure or not applicable
49
56
71 68
74
61 61 61
26
23
Q13: What are the other trends shaping the Factory of the Future?
84
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Q14: What do you think are the potential 'game changers' for
manufacturing?
25
20
15
10
5
0
19
16
13
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
Affordability Environmentalism Additive manufacturing
50
57
51
23
13
13 13
Q15: How do views on the Factory of the Future vary between
nations?
% of interviewees
% of interviewees
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
16
More global connectivity China's increasing Cultural differences
capability
Q16: How should the UK respond to any suggestions of what the
Factory of the Future would look like?
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
32
Increase investment in Retain domestic Take a leading role
the factory of the future manufacturing
58
13
6 6 6 6 6
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Sustainability
and reliable
energy supply
Biotechnology Investment in
small specialist
businesses
Increased
information
and
communication
technology
(ICT)
Increase the
focus on
manufacturing
Abolish the EU
Common
Agricultural
Policy
% of interviewees
Q17: Do you have any views on trends affecting the Factory of the
Future as far out as 2050?
52
