Technology always creates new industries and opportunities. It brings down the cost of production and brings new disruption. In the coming days manufacturing base across the globe will shift from high end of capital consumption to low-end capital consumption with a focused approach towards the optimization of resources. Many new SME will open up and will transform the global manufacturing landscape. Technology will shift the gears of Strategic Cost management.
The global industry of manufacturing is heading towards another low-cost model of production. This will further shift production cost to lower levels and also many job locations will be changed in the coming few years. 3D manufacturing is an old ball game where there are certain limitations regarding tweaking of cost and quality where it becomes expensive. The prime objective of the strategic cost management is to create innovation and to get affordability of the products. The rising population and weak economic growth reduce the affordability of higher-cost services. Among the services healthcare industry is one of the biggest industry which hardly face any recession at any point in time.
Medical treatment is a nightmare for any economy and particularly where the aging population is growing up. According to the most recent population report from the United Nations, the global populations aged 60 and over numbered 962 million in 2017, more than double the number of 382 million in 1980. It will take fewer years to double the number again. The report projects that by 2050, the population aged 60 and above will reach 2.1 billion. Globally, the population aged 80 years or over is projected to increase more than threefold between 2017 and 2050, rising from 137 million to 425 million.
This rising old age will have a huge burden of medical cost and non-affordability of the same would be another nightmare where jobs and social security benefits are becoming a burden for the government.
Low cost production of health services and disability treatment is only possible through low-cost production of medical equipment. 3D manufacturing has no doubt reduced the cost burden but it has its own limitations.
Under 3D printing various factors related to production have limitations. But when it comes to 4D-printed object can change its shape in response to certain triggers, such as (body) heat, light, electricity, magnetic fields or moisture. The biggest benefit of the same currency is the healthcare industry.
Healthcare cost management is one of the most important aspects of the modern economy as pollution and complicated health care cost have created more complication in treatment and cost management related to the same. Programming the production process and material consumption will reduce the cost for various types of products for the healthcare industry.
The adaptability of 4D printing can be used on materials like hydrogels and polymers. 4D-printed organs, medical implants, and other critical instruments and lead to affordable healthcare treatment and disability treatment. The biggest boon of 4D printing technology is that it is programmable material, in which after the manufacturing process, the printed product reacts with parameters within the environment and changes its shape accordingly. This gives a wider spectrum of production and tweaking within the manufacturing space. The cost of raw material and the quality will change post-adoption of 4D technology.
The ability to do this comes from the almost infinite configurations at a micrometric resolution, creating solids with engineered molecular spatial distributions and thus allowing unprecedented multi-functional performance. This is the new revolution in manufacturing space.
4D printing is a relatively new advance in bio-fabrication technology, which is rapidly emerging as a new paradigm in disciplines such as bioengineering, materials science and chemistry and computer science. In practical terms, this means 4D-printed objects can theoretically react much more dynamically, rather than remaining as rigid, solid structures. In the future, it may be possible to envision a time when products created with 4D printing can adapt and adjust to their surroundings, in addition to being customized to fulfill user needs.
The next evolution for manufacturing through the adoption of 4D will be railways, oil and gas followed with footwear to industrial manufacturing. You design the car and we manufacture concept is soon going to be a revolution for the Automobile industry. At the same time, production of the same will shift to a lower end of the cost curve. Cost-effective construction and production of industrial products will soon rule and change the dynamics of the game of manufacturing. The cost of production in many cases comes to 90% which itself increases the demand for the 4D revolution to grow.
On another hand, the material being used for manufacturing will also witness a revolution where different type of raw material will be used replacing the traditional raw materials which will bring another set of revolution towards the cost curve.
Production time lines will improvise radically in the coming days as 4D will change the dynamics of the production time frame. A significant low-cost model of production, where the speed of production will increase but without a corresponding significant impact on production cost.
In 4D the final product will change its dynamics based on the external factors without incurring any cost for the change on course. The dimensions of productions will witness a paradigm shift under 4D technology.
Replacement cost of ancillary units will be low as the cost of production comes down. For example, in Airbus 4D technology in managing its cooling components.
Many SME will witness a significant jump in business and new opportunities under the 4D technology of production. The global manufacturing industry is witnessing massive change over in production and manufacturing segment.
The world is under a revolution of 4D manufacturing.
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