IndustReal Reinforcement Learning and the Trillion Dollar Grand Slam
Date:
NVIDIA’s bets on Industrial AI contributes to its rise to a trillion dollar market cap. Additively Manufactured Electronics could play a role in the new VR headsets.
Exponential Industry
“A factory deserves more innovation and more engineering skill than the product itself.”
Elon Musk
For most of the last 50 years, US manufacturing productivity, the increase of production of goods with relatively fewer inputs, has increased at an exponential rate. The chart above shows this phenomenon throughout the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. This period is commonly referred to as the Third Industrial Revolution and was marked by the adoption of transformative technologies such as general purpose computers, microelectronics (PLCs, microcontrollers, etc.), telecommunications, and robotics bringing high-level automation to industry. Following the Global Financial Crisis in 2010, manufacturing productivity has leveled off. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and many others have studied this great stagnation in comprehensive detail. The way forward is uncertain, but there is hope that emerging manufacturing technologies will return us to these exponential productivity gains that go back to the First Industrial Revolution starting in the late 1700s.
The Exponential Industry blog and newsletter covers the next wave of innovation of smart manufacturing and supply chains as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. The Industry 4.0 trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies is well underway but many questions of what is possible still persist. This blog seeks to build community across engineers, managers, and observers innovating within industry through weekly coverage of the latest in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), robotics, and more!
Recent Posts
Supporting Small Manufacturers: Local and Regional Governments Provide Financial Aid Amid Tax Hurdles
Date:
Drone swarm inspections re-take flight, merging additive manufacturing, and vibration control. Local governments provide support for small manufacturers.
The Role of Digital Models and Industrial Robots in Enabling Manufacturing-as-a-Service
Date:
Protolabs report highlights digital manufacturing models in their 2023 Manufacturing Robotics Report. The Sustainable Aerospace Together hub launches to improve aviation industry sustainability.
Challenging a Century of Tradition: Unboxed Assembly
Date:
Tesla rethinks centralized final assembly with a delayed 3D unboxed assembly approach. Overcoming challenges with circular economy solutions such as plastics recovery and carbon capture.
Pioneering Facility Designs to Drive Advanced Manufacturing Forward
Date:
Advanced expertise is required to execute facility designs to get the most from technology bets. AI co-pilots are transforming the factory floor and ability to find hidden hoards of battery metals.