Discrete manufacturing in a changing world

whitePaper | March 23, 2023

The fourth industrial revolution is transforming the manufacturing industry as we speak. Industry 4.0 is digitally driven, and like all other revolutions, the transformation did not happen overnight. Since the first personal computer on a factory floor in 1970s, computer-aided design has developed and matured exponentially. Strategically eective evolutionary steps has resulted in productivity and eciency gains in manufacturing. We live in the Industry 4.0 era, characterized by the digitization of manufacturing processes. Inevitably, today, information plays a significant role for an enterprise transformation. Data on how the product’s design and manufacturing information is authored, exchanged, and processed is critical to competitiveness. Information ‘silos’ for various life cycle processes are gradually connected to form a digital thread of information, envisioned to integrate and drive modern product design, manufacturing, and product support service processes.

whitePaper | January 1, 2022

In the past five years, there’s been a significant shift in what’s expected from manufacturers: in particular, speed to market and increasing production demand. Many have been seriously affected by COVID-19, and are still looking to keep costs down while delivering a high-quality product. And although Europe’s industrial production had grown year-on-year prior to 2020, facilities are battling against increased customer demand, supply chain delays, and shortages of materials

whitePaper | November 2, 2022

Vietnam has emerged as a leader for outsourced manufacturing among southeast Asian nations due to its exceptional cost competitiveness and consistent high quality. Vietnam’s location — adjacent to established supply chains across the border it shares with China — provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with alternative sourcing as the costs of doing business in China escalate. Hourly labor rates in Vietnam are significantly lower than other nearby countries; and the nation has implemented strict laws and regulations to protect the intellectual property of foreign companies. The marketplace and political conditions together have enabled Vietnam to sustain the highest economic growth rate in the world since 2000. Understanding Vietnam’s unique financial advantages can help OEMs that outsource manufacturing to achieve a lower total cost of ownership that fuels higher profits and growth.

whitePaper | December 11, 2021

Developing products for an increasingly complex world certainly challenges or even exceeds engineering capabilities. Many factors impact complexity such as connectivity, security, safety, product variants, development velocity, reliability and quality,Many argue tha the major driver to better manage this complexity is the engineering paradigm of Industry 4.0.

whitePaper | September 30, 2022

Until 2020, progress towards digital transformation for most manufacturers was slow. But the urgency for manufacturers to make successful digital transformations escalated during the first 8-12 months of the global pandemic. As COVID-19 reshaped consumer buying behaviors, the pace jumped from a crawl to a sprint: According to one study, 85% of organizations accelerated their digital transformation initiatives in 2020.[1] Some industry observers believe we witnessed 6.5 years of digital progress in the last eight months of 2020 alone.

whitePaper | May 15, 2022

Around the world, traditional manufacturing industry is in the throes of a digital transformation that is accelerated by exponentially growing technologies (e.g. intelligent robots, autonomous drones, sensors, 3D printing). The pace of change reflects ’Moore’s law’ on the speed at which information technology-driven change happens. Companies and their industrial processes need to adapt to this rapid change if they are not to be left behind by developments in their sector and by their competitors.