Advanced Manufacturing
Encyclopedia
There is no one comprehensive, widely-accepted definition of Advanced Manufacturing (AM). The phrase is used by many organizations in different, sometimes conflicting, ways. However, there are strong trends in how the phrase is used.
involves the use of technology
to improve products and/or processes, with the relevant technology being described as “advanced,” “innovative,” or “cutting edge.” For example, one organization defines advanced manufacturing as industries that “increasingly integrate new innovative technologies in both products and processes. The rate of technology adoption
and the ability to use that technology to remain competitive and add value define the advanced manufacturing sector.” (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at. Accessed June, 16, 2010) Another author states: “Advanced manufacturing centers upon improving the performance of US industry
through the innovative application of technologies, processes and methods to product design
and production.” Finally, a recent survey of advanced manufacturing definitions by the White House
states: “A concise definition of advanced manufacturing offered by some is manufacturing that entails rapid transfer of science and technology (S&T) into manufacturing products and processes.” (PCAST, April 2010.)
or management
methodologies in their definition of advanced manufacturing. For example, one organization defines “advanced manufacturing as the insertion of new technology, improved processes, and management methods to improve the manufacturing of products.” (National Defense University, 2002, as reported in PCAST) Another organization lists advanced manufacturing as “encompassing lean production techniques, enhanced supply chain integration, and technology assimilation.” (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at. Accessed June, 16, 2010) In fact, the Wikipedia definition of “advanced manufacturing” is “advanced planning and scheduling” described as “a manufacturing management process by which raw material
s and production capacity are optimally allocated to meet demand.” Overall, the following business or management methodologies were listed as being a part of advanced manufacturing:
, medical device
, pharmaceutical) is the basis for a definition of advanced manufacturing, with the characteristics of the two differing in terms of volume and scale economies, labor and skill content, and the depth and diversity of the network surrounding the industry. (New England Council and Deloitte, as referenced in PCAST document)
) The White House survey lists some experts as defining advanced manufacturing “solely by advances that led to decreased cost or increased productivity
.” (PCAST)
” as being part of the definition of advanced manufacturing. (Purdue University
) Although research and development was not explicitly included in most definitions, the innovative technologies listed by many are most likely the result of extensive research and development.
. That is, there is a constant iteration of improving manufacturing frontiers...Therefore, what is classified as “frontier” is constantly changing, and, likewise, advanced manufacturing is constantly changing.” (PCAST) Another source stated that: “Advanced manufacturing is like a chameleon
. It changes in response to the needs of whichever company has incorporated it into its manufacturing process.” (St. Louis, C.B. Adams) A final expert is quoted as saying: “Advanced manufacturing, by its very nature, defies definition, because it is going to be different for the chemical industry
than it is for the metal fabrication industry and any other industry.” (Tom White, as quoted by C.B. Adams)
“The Advanced Manufacturing entity makes extensive use of computer, high precision, and information technologies integrated with a high performance workforce in a production system capable of furnishing a heterogeneous mix of products in small or large volumes with both the efficiency of mass production
and the flexibility of custom manufacturing in order to respond quickly to customer demands.” (Quoted in PCAST)
Use of Technology to Improve Products and Processes
One of the most widely used definitions of advanced manufacturingManufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a 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...
involves the use of technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
to improve products and/or processes, with the relevant technology being described as “advanced,” “innovative,” or “cutting edge.” For example, one organization defines advanced manufacturing as industries that “increasingly integrate new innovative technologies in both products and processes. The rate of technology adoption
Technology Adoption LifeCycle
The technology adoption lifecycle is a sociological model developed by Joe M. Bohlen, George M. Beal and Everett M. Rogers at Iowa State University, building on earlier research conducted there by Neal C. Gross and Bryce Ryan...
and the ability to use that technology to remain competitive and add value define the advanced manufacturing sector.” (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
through the innovative application of technologies, processes and methods to product design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...
and production.” Finally, a recent survey of advanced manufacturing definitions by the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
states: “A concise definition of advanced manufacturing offered by some is manufacturing that entails rapid transfer of science and technology (S&T) into manufacturing products and processes.” (PCAST, April 2010.)
Products
One organization characterizes advanced manufacturing products as follows:- Products with high levels of design
- Technologically complex products
- InnovativeInnovationInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
products - Reliable, affordable, and available products
- Newer, better, more exciting products
- Products that solve a variety of society’s problems
Process Technologies
The manufacturing process technologies described in definitions of advanced manufacturing include:- Computer technologies (e.g., CAD, CAE, CAM) (Paul Fowler, NACFAM; UK Manufacturing Advisory Service Southeast; C.B. Adams, St. Louis, OECD)
- High Performance ComputingHigh-performance computingHigh-performance computing uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Today, computer systems approaching the teraflops-region are counted as HPC-computers.-Overview:...
(HPC) for modeling, simulation and analysis (Council on Competitiveness) - High Precision technologies (Paul Fowler, NACFAM)
- Information technologiesInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(Paul Fowler, NACFAM) - Advanced roboticsRoboticsRobotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
and other intelligent production systems (US Department of Labor, ETA; C.B. Adams, St. Louis) - AutomationAutomationAutomation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
(UK Manufacturing Advisory Service Southeast; C.B. Adams, St. Louis) - Control systems to monitor processes (UK Manufacturing Advisory Service Southeast)
- Sustainable and green processes and technologies (US Department of Labor)
- New industrial platform technologies (e.g., composite materialComposite materialComposite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s) (UK Manufacturing Advisory Service Southeast) - Ability to custom manufacture (PCAST; Paul Fowler, NACFAM; Grow Oklahoma Campaign)
- Ability to manufacture high or low volume (scalability) (PCAST; Paul Fowler, NACFAM; Grow Oklahoma Campaign)
Use of Business/Management Methodologies
A number of organizations also included businessBusiness
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
or management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
methodologies in their definition of advanced manufacturing. For example, one organization defines “advanced manufacturing as the insertion of new technology, improved processes, and management methods to improve the manufacturing of products.” (National Defense University, 2002, as reported in PCAST) Another organization lists advanced manufacturing as “encompassing lean production techniques, enhanced supply chain integration, and technology assimilation.” (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at
Raw material
A raw material or feedstock is the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made, frequently used with an extended meaning. For example, the term is used to denote material that came from nature and is in an unprocessed or minimally processed state. Latex, iron ore, logs, and crude...
s and production capacity are optimally allocated to meet demand.” Overall, the following business or management methodologies were listed as being a part of advanced manufacturing:
- Quality controlQuality controlQuality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
s (US Department of Labor) - Lean production technologies (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at
. Accessed June, 16, 2010) - Supply chainSupply chainA supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...
integration (Virginia Beach Economic Development Department. Website at. Accessed June, 16, 2010) - Advanced Planning and Scheduling (Wikipedia, online, accessed June 2010)
Other Definitions
There are also definitions of “advanced manufacturing” that are used by one or few sources.Traditional vs. Advanced Manufacturers
In one report, the distinction between traditional sectors of manufacturing (listed as auto, steel) and others (listed as aerospaceAerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
, medical device
Medical device
A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
, pharmaceutical) is the basis for a definition of advanced manufacturing, with the characteristics of the two differing in terms of volume and scale economies, labor and skill content, and the depth and diversity of the network surrounding the industry. (New England Council and Deloitte, as referenced in PCAST document)
Successful Manufacturers
Other sources define advanced manufacturers as those that “succeed” in today’s competitive environment. One source states that: “What differentiates certain companies is a unique ability to create a competitive advantage in this environment. These manufacturers think and do faster and, by definition, these advantages make them advanced.” (Industrial College of the Armed ForcesIndustrial College of the Armed Forces
The Industrial College of the Armed Forces is a U.S. military educational institution tasked with preparing military officers and civilian government officials for leadership and executive positions in the field of national security...
) The White House survey lists some experts as defining advanced manufacturing “solely by advances that led to decreased cost or increased productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
.” (PCAST)
Research and Development
One organization listed “aggressive research and developmentResearch and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
” as being part of the definition of advanced manufacturing. (Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
) Although research and development was not explicitly included in most definitions, the innovative technologies listed by many are most likely the result of extensive research and development.
Dynamic, Constantly Changing
Finally, several sources pointed out that any definition of advanced manufacturing will need to change with the changing times, and that the definition will vary for different companies and different industries. The White House survey states: “Most discussants agree that an appropriate advanced manufacturing definition should be dynamic in nature and be treated as more of a benchmarkBenchmark
-Geology:*Benchmark , a point of reference for a measurement**Benchmarking , an activity involving finding benchmarks*Benchmark , used in pricing crude oil-Technology:...
. That is, there is a constant iteration of improving manufacturing frontiers...Therefore, what is classified as “frontier” is constantly changing, and, likewise, advanced manufacturing is constantly changing.” (PCAST) Another source stated that: “Advanced manufacturing is like a chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
. It changes in response to the needs of whichever company has incorporated it into its manufacturing process.” (St. Louis, C.B. Adams) A final expert is quoted as saying: “Advanced manufacturing, by its very nature, defies definition, because it is going to be different for the chemical industry
Chemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
than it is for the metal fabrication industry and any other industry.” (Tom White, as quoted by C.B. Adams)
Conclusion
The term “advanced manufacturing” encompasses many of the developments in the manufacturing field during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including high tech products and processes and lean, green, and flexible manufacturing, among others. No one definition captures everything said about advanced manufacturing, although the majority of definitions found on the web include the use of innovative technology to improve products and/or processes, and many also include the use of new business/management methodologies. Accordingly, the definition that probably comes closest to being comprehensive is that given by Paul Fowler of the National Association of Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM), celebrating its 20th anniversary this year:“The Advanced Manufacturing entity makes extensive use of computer, high precision, and information technologies integrated with a high performance workforce in a production system capable of furnishing a heterogeneous mix of products in small or large volumes with both the efficiency of mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
and the flexibility of custom manufacturing in order to respond quickly to customer demands.” (Quoted in PCAST)