---
title: "Robotics, Manufacturing and the Future : What Comes Next?"
canonical: https://jimcarroll.com/2021/11/robotics-manufacturing-and-the-future-what-comes-next/
updated: 2022-04-01T10:49:21+00:00
---

# Robotics, Manufacturing and the Future : What Comes Next?

Hey, what’s the future of manufacturing, robotics and automation? I was interviewed by Jim Beretta in his popular Robot Industry Podcast – [give it a listen!](https://therobotindustrypodcast.com/podcast/manufacturing-the-future-with-futurist-jim-carroll/)

https://therobotindustrypodcast.com/podcast/manufacturing-the-future-with-futurist-jim-carroll/

Notes Jim:

I first heard Jim speak at the ATX Automation show in NYC a few years ago. Jim is a keynote speaker and his clients include Informa, Disney, World Bank, Mercedes Benz, NASA, and Pfizer.

I seem to be doing a few of these in the manufacturing space. The folks at Applied Software, a leading purveyor of manufacturing software, also invited me in to be the launch person for their new ***Forging Manufacturing*** podcast. We had so much to talk about that they turned it into two episodes! You can access it [here](https://forgingmanufacturing.com).

https://forgingmanufacturing.com

I spend a lot of time providing trends oriented keynotes in the world of manufacturing, as detailed on the page [The Disruption, Transformation, and Reinvention of Manufacturing](https://manufacturing.jimcarroll.com)

I built the talk around the theme that is working for most of the keynotes I’m doing (via [virtual](https://virtual.jimcarroll.com)) or scheduled in-person for this fall :

- what did our industry look like before Covid – what were the key trends, the disruption, and the future?

- how did Covid shift the axis of our universe – both in a general way, as well as an industry-specific perspective

- what does this mean going forward, both generally and specifically

It was a great conversation. I also recorded it locally and did a quick edit to cut out the key sections – sans their questions – where I took on these three issues. It’s a good, succinct summary of the future of manufacturing. Here’s a playlist by which you can access these sections.

The video mostly fell into the summary that I wrote prior to going to air, with some minor modifications:

***Manufacturing – What we were talking about pre-Covid?***

- The rapid acceleration of new methodologies

- Additive/3d

- iiOT in the factory

- Rapid product prototyping and design

- Impact of crowdfunding/crowdsourcing on design/product

- The rapid emergence of new competitors

- Skills shortage; rapid acceleration of skills

- New material science

- Embedding intelligence/connectivity into a product

- Managing the new Amazon dominance

***How did Covid shift the axis of our universe?***

- A shift from just-in-time to just-in-case

- Supply chain volatility

- Price inflation

- The rapid adoption of new methodologies (i.e. 3d printing for swabs, masks)

- Robotics – emerging from the cage – distancing

- Acceleration of production visibility initiatives

- Rapid repurposing/reinvention of production

- Greater focus on cost management (rapid acceleration of cost)

- Faster alignment to external partnerships (pack and ship, etc)

- Faster acceleration of big trends (electric cars, autonomy, virtual)

***What Will We Be Talking About in Manufacturing Post-Covid?***

- Chief Resilience Officer

- Potential de-globalization strategies

- Redundancy and agility

- Banking / how to keep what we learned in Covid

- Accelerating robotics

- 6. New workforce decisions/challenges (hesitancy etc)

- A need for better supply chain insight

- Accelerating direct to consumer strategies

- Re-examination of logistics (shipping, airline)

- The new emphasis on security (ransom attacks et