Changes in Making things !

The way we made things kept evolving through 200,000 BC till today, and will begoing on and on. We all know that things started changing rapidly; eventually manufacturing must also catch up with the ever changing world. Here are some trends and pattern of evolution of manufacturing systems. The evolution of each stage of manufacturing was fueled by different things happening to the world as the whole.
 

The manufacturing goals, perspectives and target customers are now at a different pace to that which existed several years ago. The pace of change has been fast and the near future will also be completely different compared to present situation. Social, political, technological, scientific, and economic are a few of the triggers and sources of changes to manufacturing. All organizations have experienced the effects of change, but it seems likely that more significant changes are yet to come. Many successful businesses understand customer needs, they develop product to meet customer needs, and they bring product to the market quickly. These successful businesses are able to convince users that their product will improve their productivity, quality and profitability. Businesses should not only be ready for change, they must be adaptable and flexible, striving for continuous improvements.

The manufacturing started from the revolutionizing stone-age tools. This happened around 200,0000 BC. Later the metallurgy triggered the usage of metal tools starting from copper through bronze and other alloys. This age was termed as Bronze Age, 2100 BC.

Triggers for Manufacturing / Industrial Revolution

Later technological advancements of the earlier twentieth century involved improvements in mass production through the application of technologies developed and utilized during World War II.  After the WWII the concentration on recourse availability was increased, which lead to the evolution of LEAN systems (Toyota Production).  

Ownership of Industries

“Economics of Sizes”: As the volume of production and purchase increases the advantage of production. This fueled the transformation of enterprise ownership.  

Fuel triggered evolution of transportation system, which in-turn triggered supply chain, fueling globalization. 

The next posting will be about some thing i think will be the next stage of manufacturing ...