Managing Manufacturing Techonomy Events
Companies struggle to stay relevant to customers as tastes and trends change quickly. At Techonomy NYC, I was struck by Slava Rubin, cofounder of crowdfunding service Indiegogo, which has started working with companies like GE and Whirlpool to test ideas with consumers. His best stories relate to refrigerators and the way we dispose of trash. More
Arts & Culture Learning Manufacturing
A flood of investments into the new tools of reality continues to fuel innovation. Virtual and augmented reality, from the original Google Glass to the latest Oculus Rift, has continually shaped the technology market,and will grow substantially in the coming years. AR and VR will impact the world around us in a number of interesting—and beneficial—ways. Here are five things to look forward to. More
Internet of Things Manufacturing
The big dream of consumer robotics has always been the in-home robot. In movies and television, friendly robots help with daily chores, talk and interact with their owners, and generally become a part of the family. Now, a new robot from Taiwanese company Asus could make the family robot an affordable reality. It’s name is Zenbo – and at $599, it costs less than an iPhone 6S. More
Manufacturing Startup Culture Techonomy Events
A tech trifecta is transforming manufacturing: Cloud connectivity, cheaper, computing, and easily-shared digital information. When speed-to-market is valued over all else, businesses that best utilize these tools for R&D, production, and delivery will win. The new synergies are transforming one-man manufacturing startups as much as giants like Ford. More
Cities Government Manufacturing Techonomy Events Transportation
On September 15th our FOURTH Techonomy Detroit conference hosts fantastic thinkers and leaders for conversations about how tech is changing companies, work, cities and countries. Speakers include Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, plus leaders from Google, IBM, Microsoft, and numerous other companies. And 41% of our speakers are women! More
Business Manufacturing Startup Culture
After I first visited TechShop in 2006, I hypothesized that if makers could be given access to the tools of the industrial revolution at a cost they could afford, they could change the world. Nine years later we have innumerable examples of how this access has revolutionized who gets to make things, what gets made, and where and how they do it. In other words, it changes the very nature of manufacturing in America. More
Is operating a driverless car legal? With Tesla, Audi, and Cadillac all set to roll out vehicles featuring autonomous functions over the next year—in a legal climate where the federal government and a majority of states lack any regulation at all—the question is difficult to address, but urgently demands an answer. Many automakers say that if a state doesn’t expressly bar hands-free driving, it’s permitted. And legal experts agree. But they also point out that how police officers elect to actually handle driverless cars is another matter. More
Manufacturing Techonomy Events
While most of the world is yet to be enlightened as to how 3D printing will change manufacturing, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass is already talking about its limitations, and why biological manufacturing is the industry’s more exciting future. Bass joined fellow manufacturing industry thought leaders last week at Techonomy 2014 in Half Moon Bay, Calif., for a conversation about how hardware and software are changing manufacturing. More
Manufacturing Techonomy Events
Trends in openness, access to technology and an expansion of new resource channels combined with a burgeoning hacker mentality mean doors are starting to open to an industry long closed off to startups. What does the future of making things look like as the hardware changes and software evolves? What is the new infrastructure of manufacturing? Techonomy's David Kirkpatrick speaks with Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, PCH CEO Liam Casey, and Shapeways co-founder Marleen Vogelaar at the Techonomy 2014 conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif. More
Analytics & Data Manufacturing
Let’s tone down the hype about the Industrial Internet of Things. While the concept shows promise—building smart machines that use sensors and Internet connectivity to improve performance and catch problems—the far more pressing opportunity is learning to make better use of the mountains of data that factories already generate each year, data that manufacturers today often discard after a production run or store unexamined. More
Tesla's $5 billion Gigafactory will be worth nearly $100 billion to Nevada over 20 years, according to the state's Governor Brian Sandoval and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, who announced plans to build the lithium-ion battery plant in the northern part of the state in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. In return, Nevada is expected to allow Tesla billions of dollars in tax breaks. More
The media and pundits have exaggerated the threat robots present to human workers' livelihood, claims labor market scholar David Autor. Reporting on ideas Autor presented at a recent bankers' conference, New York Times writer Neil Irwin sums up the argument: "Even as computers have gotten better at rote tasks, they have progressed far less in applying common sense." More
Steven Norris, an editor at Gearburn—a Cape Town, South Africa website chronicling "the latest gadget news from around the world"—admits to being endlessly amused by "staggeringly cool technology videos" that reveal how designers transform ugly tech devices into "eye-pleasing shapes." As a favor to those who share his fascination, yesterday Norris shared 13 videos "of incredible inventions that show off their makers' insane intelligence." His picks? We agree they're all staggeringly cool, but suggest that their inventors are likely quite sane geniuses. More
Energy & Green Tech Manufacturing
Tesla Motors and Panasonic confirmed this morning that they will cooperate on the construction of a large-scale lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. Five states in the running to host the $5 billion Gigafactory expect an announcement of its location after the market closes today. Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas are the hopefuls to house the facility, which is expected to comprise up to 10 million square feet over 1,000 acres. More
Attracted by low labor costs and other advantages, global electronics manufacturers invested billions in Vietnam over the past few years. As they continue to build new factories in 2014, Vietnam’s economy will benefit from the influx of foreign capital, talent, and technology. A small player in the global electronics supply chain just a decade ago, Vietnam exported $38 billion in devices and components last year, according to data from the International Trade Center. Although this pales next to the $560 billion shipped by China, the world’s leading producer of electronics, Vietnam now ranks as the 12th largest electronics exporter in the world. More
There’s a renaissance underway in American manufacturing. Even as rising wages and energy costs in China are leading more U.S. companies to bring manufacturing stateside, economic indicators point towards real industrial progress. The Institute for Supply Management's monthly Report on Business shows that 15 of 18 manufacturing industries grew in June, and a composite index based on five industry indicators shows a steady expansion in manufacturing for the 13th consecutive month. More
Mother Earth could benefit from the degradation of, oddly enough, one of her own, as scientists search for ways to deteriorate trees in order to improve industrial processes. New research shows that by weakening the walls of plant cells we can render them more susceptible to deconstruction during industrial processing, making procedures like pulping, paper-making, and biofuel production less wasteful and more energy efficient. To degrade plant structures, researchers redesigned the polymer that fortifies plant cell walls, lignin, using high heat and alkaline treatments to weaken bonds between molecules. More
Analytics & Data Internet of Things Manufacturing
Every week we spotlight techonomic happenings on the Web and beyond, picking people, companies, and trends that exemplify tech’s ever-growing role in business and society. Here’s what’s got our attention. More
Bio & Life Sciences Manufacturing
Getting living organisms to do our manufacturing work for us may be the next big shift in materials science. This Quartz article explains how it becomes not inconceivable that in the nearish future we will have biological materials helping us assemble solar panels, for example, or possibly helping work with a variety of different non-biological materials. The ability of living cells to help assemble non-living ones is a big breakthrough the article reports on. It suggests that future capabilities might even include things like tape that repairs itself biologically if it detects that its adhesive is weakening. Wow. More
A slew of year-end news about China’s auto industry is shining a spotlight on the tough times that domestic car makers are facing not only at home but also abroad as they grapple with tough competition and other market factors. Domestic nameplates like Geely, Chery, and BYD have steadily lost share in their home market over the last few years to big foreign names like GM and Volkswagen, but posted strong export gains as they looked to overseas markets to partly offset the declines at home. But now even the export picture is looking bleak, with the latest word that no Chinese car makers will attend the industry-leading North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. More
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