# Keynote Case Study: Macola Software — Manufacturing Is Being Reinvented
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At Macola Software's annual user meeting in Chicago, futurist Jim Carroll mapped the forces transforming manufacturing: collapsing product lifecycles, mass customization, robotics, cloud systems, connected products, advanced materials, rapid prototyping and build-to-demand economics. Manufacturing Is Being Reinvented Manufacturers cannot rely on rigid processes and long planning cycles when products, customers, technology and production methods are all changing faster. Jim's keynote framed the new manufacturing advantage as agility: shorter cycles, flexible systems, rapid experimentation and the ability to build around changing demand. Six trends are shaping that shift. Collapsing Lifecycles. Products move from launch to obsolescence faster, shortening the time available to design, produce and respond. Mass Customization. Flexible systems shift more categories from identical mass production toward personalized output at scale. Cloud + IoT. Connected products and factories create continuous data flows and new ways to manage operations. Advanced Robotics. Robotics becomes more flexible, spatially aware and integrated into a wider range of production processes. Rapid Prototyping. 3D printing and digital design compress the distance between idea, prototype, testing and production. Build To Demand. Manufacturing models move from build-to-inventory toward faster, more responsive demand-driven production. The factory of the future is faster, connected, flexible and built around continuous reinvention, Jim told the Macola user community. It's the message manufacturers running Macola's ERP systems took straight back into their own production planning. Explore more keynote case studies.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2018/10/macola-2018-past/