As we move towards the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, we’re going to hear more and more about the loss of manufacturing jobs. This is important - folk have to be able to eat.  However, what the politicians aren’t talking about is the fundamental transformation going on in manufacturing and how that will impact citizens. That is important too. Manufacturing as we know it is going away - the notion that we can just “keep jobs here” is naive at best. To put this into context, let’s first reflect on what the word manufacturing means:

Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, “making by hand”) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a vast range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale.

Wikipedia

Notice manu as in manual - this definition is in need of an upgrade since so much of what we call manufacturing doesn’t require human hands touching materials. One could argue that that has been true for a century, that we’re actually at Manufacturing 7.0 but I’ll stick with current terminology. Manufacturing 2.0 is a transition phase that will bring dematerialization to the forefront. reBang’s excellent Next Generation of Product Development Tools series is loaded with videos that illustrate how this is happening.

  The word “sampling” is probably most often associated with music, but it’s not at all limited to that application. Physical models are sometimes sculpted and their shape digitally sampled, or a previously existing reference might be digitized and used as a scaffold for building a new, virtual model. Or something entirely unrelated can be sampled and turned into a virtual 3D model. Once digitized, there’s not much that can’t be done with digitally sampled information.
reBang: Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 6

This kind of sampling is at the heart of Manufacturing 2.0 and represents a key aspect of Rhythmeering. When Manufacturing 3.0 arrives on the wings of robotics and nanotechnology, man-made items will be works of art and hobby - there won’t be many of today’s manufacturing jobs here or overseas. Sampling and mashups will be important elements of the new industrial base. The government needs to start informing the people and preparing for this future now.

Related Links:

Institute For The Future:  Manufacturing 2.0
Industry Week: Manufacturing 2.0

Rhythmeering: Assessing the State of Rapid Manufacturing