How does the Future of Work look like

The manufacturing industry is a dynamic world where numerous products get designed, manufactured and then through supply chain networks reach markets. Assembly lines work uninterrupted and conveyor belts function day in and day out to ensure that designs become products and products become marketable assets.

However, even as we speak, powerful and sweeping changes are taking place in the manufacturing industry. Changes that promise to:

-- Make complex supply and distribution networks faster, more flexible and more resilient-- Empower human beings to unleash more broad-based and distributed creativity and entrepreneurship-- Redefine the competitive landscape in multiple sectors

In a white paper authored by Marco Annunziata, Chief Economist, GE and Stephan Biller, Chief Manufacturing Scientist, GE, they list out the major forces behind this transformation.

The first driving force is the Industrial Internet: The lines between the physical and digital world are becoming increasingly blurred. The integration of cloud-based analytics (“big data”) with industrial machinery (“big iron”) is creating huge opportunities for productivity gains. The rapid decline in the costs of both electronic sensors and storing and processing of data now allows us to harvest massive amounts of data from industrial machinery. Using advanced analytics, we can then draw insights that can increase efficiency.

Machines like gas turbines, jet engines, locomotives and medical devices are becoming predictive, reactive and social, making them better able to communicate seamlessly with each other and with us. The information they generate becomes intelligent, reaches us automatically and instantaneously when we need it and allows us to fix things before they break. This eliminates downtime and improves the productivity of individual machines.

The second driving force is Advanced Manufacturing: At the core of the advanced manufacturing idea is the ability to digitally link together design, product engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, and remanufacturing (or servicing) into one cohesive, intelligent system—a Brilliant Factory. New production techniques like additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, allow us to create completely new parts and products with new properties.

They also give us more flexibility to produce prototypes faster and at lower cost. This accelerates the cycle of design, prototyping and production and turns a traditional factory into a Brilliant Factory. Risk-mitigation and resilience-enhancing strategies will be easier to develop, and will become an integral part of the Brilliant Factory’s automatic response/adjustment system.

The third driving force is the Global Brain: Technological progress and economic growth are contributing to a seismic shift in the role that human beings play in the production process. Technological progress, notably in High-Performance Computing, robotics and artificial intelligence, is extending the range of tasks that machines can perform better than humans can. This may have painful short-term costs as some jobs are displaced and some skills made obsolete. But it dramatically augments the power and economic value of the areas where humans excel: creativity, entrepreneurship and interpersonal abilities.

Open-source platforms and crowd-sourcing are two of the most effective ways to unleash the creativity and entrepreneurship potential of the global brain. Industry is increasingly relying on both in a trend that will deliver greater flexibility and greater rewards to both employers and employees—and redefine relationships between the two. Employers will gain access to a larger pool of talent, which could vary depending on the task at hand; and workers will gain greater entrepreneurial control over their skills and talents.

The Future of Work will substantially accelerate productivity and economic growth. It will be as transformational as the industrial revolution, and possibly more. This will bring major improvements to the quality of our lives.

However, this transformation will not happen overnight and by itself. We will have to invest in new technologies and will need a robust cyber security approach to protect sensitive information and intellectual property.