2025 Manufacturing Trends

Digital transformation in the manufacturing industry is advancing fast to meet the constant demand for new products and processes. The development and adoption of immersive technology have introduced us to a new arena – the metaverse – with all its exciting possibilities. These include the increasing use of intelligent automation, plus the capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to analyse and predict machine behaviour while dictating its operations. We’re more familiar now with predictive maintenance, augmented reality, digital twinning (DT) and 3D printing, so our predictions at Rowse for 2025 manufacturing trends continue to build on these developments. 

The global pandemic instigated a radical transformation in the way we work, with more dispersed work sites joined together by more agile, internet-connected devices. The resultant growth of sensory data and immersive experiences has produced the industrial metaverse – a phrase that’s become a buzzword in modern manufacturing. It embraces connectivity across all aspects of production, with many integrated, interactive and collaborative features that allow 24/7 interaction around the world. 

The metaverse offers a new range of benefits, such as optimised production processes, improved planning and faster decision-making, plus streamlined supply chain management and energy usage. Technology platforms and cloud computing allow global design teams to collaborate in real time, creating and troubleshooting digital twins and virtual 3D models. These can be linked to factory floor devices, sensor networks and robotics that enable the whole production process to be constantly monitored.

We predict that the following manufacturing trends are also likely to influence the industrial landscape in 2025:

Dispersed Manufacturing

The pandemic caused the manufacturing industry to evaluate alternative production models so that disruptions to business would be minimised. One approach to this is decentralised or dispersed manufacturing, which helps companies to increase their agility and resilience. By embracing dispersed local models, business owners can develop a new manufacturing concept that can react quickly and respond coherently to market changes. Several manufacturers are establishing self-contained micro-factories, which can be set up, moved and re-formatted with very little disruption. These can be situated anywhere in the world so that goods can be produced in the environment that’s closest to their primary markets.

On-Demand Manufacturing

Micro-factories go hand-in-hand with on-demand manufacturing, where goods are only produced when they’re needed. Saving space, time and energy, these smaller, more agile facilities can leverage predictive analytics and market demand sensing to become more responsive and less wasteful. AI can assess changes in demand patterns through data analysis, while individual customer needs can be met without fuss or unnecessary tooling. 

3D printing also contributes to the ability of manufacturers to respond to one-off or small product runs, working from CAD models or existing objects. Along with intelligent automation and analytics, new opportunities will be available for customisation in manufacturing, so consumers may even be able to go directly to pop-up factories to purchase on-demand bespoke products. 

Foresight Factories

The manufacturing sector is an industry leader when it comes to intelligent automation. Many facilities already use predictive maintenance to identify and solve potential production problems. AI and ML can predict what impact any action might have before it actually takes place. By 2025, the advance of digital transformation will increase this level of foresight in smart factories and may see them developing sentience so that they respond intuitively to fluctuations in supply and demand. 

Some research suggests that the average level of factory automation will rise over the next decade by at least 10%. It will soon be having an impact on every aspect of industrial activity, as connectivity expands to embrace the whole manufacturing value chain. We’ve seen DTs being leveraged by the military, the rail industry and shipyards, where virtual replicas are used to simulate large-scale production and design situations. 

Purposeful Production

By 2025, most manufacturers will be able to establish a real-time understanding of their operations. Big data analytics will be used to make facilities more cost- and energy-efficient and companies can leverage this information to decrease their environmental impact. Based on the analysis of centralised data management systems, manufacturers can plan for more purposeful production and aim for a more sustainable future. They can combine, for example, product lifecycle management software with manufacturing operations management to pursue lean manufacturing.  Along with the IIoT, AI and robotics, the techniques of Just-in-Time manufacturing can lead to a harmonious, streamlined and fully automated operation that should achieve zero-emission status.

Metaverse Monitoring

From 2025, the metaverse will begin to redefine the way everything functions, including industry. Within manufacturing itself, metaverse-based tools will enhance the abilities and safety of workers by providing virtual monitoring, testing and training. For instance, industrial technology companies are developing IIoT and wireless-enabled smart glasses that offer hands-free operation, audio-visual capabilities and voice commands. Workers wearing the device experience immersive, real-time situational awareness, so they can compare their immediate physical environment with a virtual rendition of how these conditions should be. This is useful for remote maintenance and monitoring while offering significant safety enhancement. 

Industrial metaverse capabilities can also test new manufacturing software. Using simulations in realistic virtual worlds, engineers can test software and physical integrations before real-world implementation. They can also train robot operators and run multiple potential scenarios to evaluate the optimal set-up.

How It Will Look In 2025

In 2025 we’ll see predictive capabilities being further developed through digital technologies like AI, ML and big data. Manufacturers will need to embrace the metaverse and explore hyper-local concepts with the potential for micro-factories and on-demand manufacturing. Operations must be imbued with purpose, making use of technological advancements to achieve a more sustainable future.

As we’ve previously noted, the increase in digitalisation brings with it the threat of disruption to data security, such as loss of data, malware and other malicious intrusions like denial of service attacks. This means that industrial enterprises must also leverage the metaverse for the protection and monitoring of control systems and their associated manufacturing networks. Remote monitoring tools and security management will, therefore, be increasingly important.