2022-23 Digital Transformation in Global Manufacturing

whitePaper | January 9, 2023

Silicone rubber has many applications, from hearing aids to handles and grips on consumer goods. This report provides an overview of 3D printed tooling for silicone part production, including two part injection molds, overmolds, compression molds, and eggshell molds. These methods can be employed for the prototyping of soft silicone products, small-batch production of customer beta units, or production of custom end-use goods. A step-by-step guide is provided for producing a silicone keychain with an encapsulated Apple AirTag, employing mold design best practices from several Formlabs product design customers. We also present information about successful material workflows from Formlabs users, including silicone-resin compatibility and recommended mold releases for both tin and platinum cure silicones.

whitePaper | October 25, 2022

Traditionally, early-stage and late-stage process development have been done separately, with early-stage mostly focused on material production and late-stage on process intensification. As more molecules in development fall under an orphan or fast-track indication, the traditional approach of linear development stages can be counterproductive—not to mention expensive—due to investing resources in perfecting a process prior to early clinical phase success.

whitePaper | June 22, 2022

The constant buzz around digital transformation and Industry 4.0 is reaching a fever pitch. With it comes the growing assumption that asset-intensive organizations understand it, want it, and its success is assured. The reality, however, is more nuanced.

whitePaper | November 1, 2022

The 21st century is the era of the fourth industrial revolution: but what does it mean to adopt Industry 4.0 solutions for Italian small and medium-sized enterprises? From the invention of the steam engine to that of the first IoT device (a smart toaster), a lot of progress has been made in innovative fields. Before going into detail, let’s try to give a general overview of the previous industrial revolutions, so we have all the appropriate tools to understand how these revolutionary epochs have changed today’s society

whitePaper | December 12, 2022

Artificial intelligence (AI) can enable a new era in the digital transformation journey, offering tremendous potential to transform industries for greater efficiency, sustainability and workforce engagement. Even though the impact of AI applications in manufacturing and value chains is known, the full opportunity from their deployment is still to be uncovered due to a number of organizational and technical roadblocks. Recognizing this need, the World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains and Platform for Shaping the Future of Technology Governance: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, together with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Türkiye, convened industry, technology and academic experts to shed light on these challenges and propose a step-by-step approach to overcome them.

whitePaper | July 25, 2022

Traceability, the ability to identify and trace the product, process, operator, context, and detailed quality and component supplier and lot information for every item that moved through manufacturing, is a must-have for manufacturing success. A robust traceability framework that envelopes the total process, product, and material traceability, is a critical component for manufacturers facing stringent regulations while seeking to reduce the overall cost of compliance.