To quench the insatiable thirst of human desire, since time immemorial, mankind embarked on an adventure to explore the unknown. Today technology is changing the face of the industry at such a rapid pace, that if we tell a 5-year-old, how things were done 10 years ago, they find it hard to believe. It seems like a fairy tale to them, but the future seems even more mystifying. The blistering speed of technological advancement is radically altering the face of every industry, especially manufacturing.

The growing population is exerting enormous pressure on resources, forcing mankind to brainstorm and invent new things and methods for survival. We have almost invented whatever human brain could conceive, but we cannot settle for what we have, and so innovation seems to be the only path to meet the challenges of the future.

Today a lot of time, money and energy is invested in research and development, in every sector, from agriculture to aerospace; to elicit more output than before. More yield from the land, more fuel efficiency from vehicles, better power to weight ratio from our machines and so on and so forth. This race for efficiency has its own consequences, and the one, that is posing a serious threat to our planet, is climate change.

So apart from focusing on efficiency, manufacturers now have to work simultaneously to reduce the carbon footprint; this started a movement to lessen dependency on fossil fuels and triggered a clean energy revolution. With more stringent emission norms manufacturers had to devise new methods and materials to access optimum utilization of resources.

To meet the demands of the present time, composite materials were invented. As the name suggests composite material means, combining two dissimilar materials together to create a material that is superior to the individual materials. For instance, dry fibre with resin is cured into a hard carbon fibre part, that is then very lightweight yet stronger than metals.

Manufacturing Industry Growth

Composite materials having high strength to weight ratio is more durable, this not only adds to the life of the product but also extracts superior performance. For instance, automobiles and aircraft made from composite materials like carbon fibre are lightweight, they return better fuel efficiency and performance, resulting in reduced carbon emission and better utilization of resources.

The use of composite material is not confined to the automobile and aviation industry only, it has made forays into other sectors for example; consumer products like eyewear, footwear and designer furniture; industrial products like manufacturing tools, prototypes, and also functional end-use parts.

By far the biggest contribution of composite materials has been in the field of health care, especially in the manufacturing of dental implants and prosthetics like artificial knee or hip joint. State of the art composite material prosthetics can mimic the density and feel of organic bone which in turn facilitates the growth of blood vessels through them resulting in faster recovery time and lower hospital bills. The use of composite material has amplified the potential of possibilities by many folds; it’s just the tip of the iceberg, and the best is yet to come.

Technological advancement warrants highly sophisticated machines, which traditional manufacturing method is unable to create; therefore new manufacturing techniques have been devised. Additive method of manufacturing like 3 D printing, is replacing the traditional subtractive method of manufacturing.

For example in traditional subtractive method to make a cube from a piece of rock, the rough edges would be subtracted or chipped off till we get the perfect cube, just like a Renaissance sculptor, using a chisel and mallet to eliminate the excess material to carve out a figure.  In the subtractive method, small simple structures are joined together to make a complex structure.

On the contrary in the additive method of manufacturing, to make a cube; thin slabs of square stones are placed one on top of the other till the cube is formed. Instead of a cube, if we have to make a pyramid, then we need to place proportionately smaller slab on top of the previous ones so that we get a tapering formation on the top. This is a very simple example just to illustrate the basic understanding of additive manufacturing, in reality, it is a much complex process.

The advantage of additive manufacturing is that, unlike the traditional method, there is no loss of material. The additive method allows us to manufacture complex parts without any joints, for instance instead of joining several small components to make the outer body of a car, the additive method enables us to manufacture it as a seamless single unit, thus making the product much more durable, rigid, lightweight and efficient.

The present manufacturing industry, by pairing composite material with additive manufacturing; is not only promising new heights in human progress but also ushering in the next industrial revolution. With this swift change in the landscape of the manufacturing industry, HR teams and recruiters of leading manufacturing organization need to collaborate with universities producing the future engineers and skilled personals. Educationalists and industrialists should have joined sessions, and mutually devise, the best way to prepare the future generations, to cash in the advantages of the new dawn in human civilization.