Breaking the Bottleneck | Issue 10
[05/15/2023] Manufacturing's Shift to India, Industrial Software Market Update
Breaking the Bottleneck is now a weekly manufacturing technology newsletter with perspectives, interviews, news, funding announcements, market maps, and a startup database. If you know any founders, executives, or experts in the space, I would love to chat here!
Content I Enjoyed This Week 🏭🗞️🔬
News:
5 Aspects of PLM That Can Be Disrupted by AI [Engineering.com]
The article discusses the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). With advancements in AI and related technologies like large language models, knowledge graphs, and semantic webs, AI is expected to significantly influence PLM development. The article suggests five ways in which AI will affect the PLM world including requirements management and traceability, reuse of data for faster new product development, virtual assistance and customer support, user experience, and planning intelligence.
Major Breakthrough Announced in Battery Density [The Driven]
The world's largest battery manufacturer, CATL, has announced a major breakthrough in battery density that could have significant implications for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The Chinese company claims to have developed a new type of lithium-ion battery cell that can store up to 50% more energy than current EV batteries while also being more durable and longer lasting. The new battery technology, which uses a cobalt-free cathode, could lead to lighter, cheaper, and more efficient EVs with longer ranges. CATL says the new battery cells are currently in production and will be available to automakers by next year.
The Legislative Impact of the IRA on Small-Town America [WSJ]
The race for $1 trillion in federal tax incentives and loans for green energy is driving a flood of corporate investments and could transform the nation’s economy by creating millions of jobs and driving up to $3 trillion in total clean-energy investments during the next decade. Large swaths of the investment so far are flowing to southern, states such as South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee which generally have lower labor costs and taxes. Colleton County in South Carolina is one such area benefiting from the investment boom. It recently secured a $279 million investment from Kontrolmatik Technologies Energy and Engineering, a Turkish firm that is hoping to get nearly $1 billion in federal tax credits over the next decade by building a battery-making plant in the US. The Colleton facility plans to produce three gigawatt-hours worth of batteries each year, enough to power 540,000 homes for an hour, and promises to employ 575 people at some of the highest wages around. In return, the state and county offer land, grants, and local tax breaks.
However, even with the increased optimism, skeptics warn the subsidies could stoke high inflation and waste money without creating lasting economic benefits. Some of the proposed investments will flop or never materialize as financiers balk at funding them or business models fail to pencil out—particularly for new technologies such as clean-hydrogen production.
Indian As the Next Major Manufacturing Hub? [WSJ]
India is making a push to be the "plus one" for Western companies looking to diversify away from China. India is the only country with a labor force and internal market comparable in size to China's. The government has pushed to make the business environment more friendly than in the past, and democratic India is seen as a natural partner for Western governments. India is still facing challenges, including a labor force that is primarily poor and unskilled, underdeveloped infrastructure, and burdensome business regulations. Nonetheless, its manufactured exports exceeded all other emerging markets except for Mexico's and Vietnam's in 2021, according to World Bank data. India has recently made strides in electronics, with exports tripling since 2018 to $23 billion in the year through March. Apple has expanded iPhone production in India, including expediting the manufacturing of its most advanced model, and Indian officials hope this will encourage other companies to come.
In fact, Cisco is investing in opening up its manufacturing in India as part of its strategy for a diverse and resilient global supply chain. The company plans to transform India into a worldwide manufacturing hub, creating over $1 billion from both domestic production and exports. The new manufacturing facilities in India will range from testing, development, and logistics to expanding repair operations.
Stakeholder Feedback on FDA Paper on AI in Pharma Manufacturing
Stakeholders have responded to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discussion paper on using artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing techniques in pharmaceutical manufacturing regulation, outlining a wide range of applications for the technology. Commenters suggested areas where AI could be used in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing including Chemistry Manufacturing & Controls (CMC) development, process control and development, process design and scale, autonomous systems for drug manufacturing, producing planning, and many others. They also called for increased guidance on data collection and preparation, model development, machine learning algorithms, validation, documentation, and relationships with third-party providers as well as increased harmonization efforts between the FDA and other organizations.
Mexico Industrial Park Rents Jump Thanks to Nearshoring [Bloomberg]
Mexico is luring companies like Tesla Inc due to benefits including its relatively low costs and proximity to the US. The result of these companies’ relocations has led industrial park rental prices to soar as much as 35% in cities with a heavy presence of manufacturing, according to a new report by asset manager Franklin Templeton.
Tesla Rethinks Its Production Line [Assembly]
Tesla is determined to reduce their “manufacturing footprint by more than 40 percent to build factories faster with less capital expenditure and more output per unit” by using unboxed assembly. The unboxed process that Tesla is proposing features parallel series assembly, with many of the concepts behind the unboxed approach being developed and tested by Tesla engineers over the last seven years.
“Unboxed assembly is also known as ‘delayed 3D,’” adds Mwangi. “In other words, you stay in 2D as much as possible and go to 3D as late as possible in the vehicle production process. That means you have open access to the majority of your work areas, which gives you an opportunity to simplify operations. It also lends itself to simpler automation, because robots don’t need to work around a shell.” Automakers traditionally stamp metal parts and turn them into a three-dimensional body, which Mwangi says is very inefficient. “Tesla wants to delay going to 3D as long as possible,” explains Mwangi. “That allows you to save factory space and have a high-density operating environment.
Research/Blogs:
Industrial Software Market Update [Houlihan Lokey]
Draft Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing in the US
Developed with input from hundreds of experts from industry, government, SDOs, and academia, the AMSC’s roadmap describes the current and desired future standardization landscape for AM. The roadmap has identified a total of 134 open gaps and corresponding recommendations across six 26 topical areas: 1) design; 2) process and materials (precursor materials, process control, post-processing, and finished material properties); 3) qualification and certification; 4) nondestructive evaluation; 5) maintenance and repair; and 6) data. Of that total, 51 gaps/recommendations have been identified as 29 high priority, 60 as medium priority, and 23 as low priority.
Designing a Digital Shadow for Efficient, Low-Delay Quality Analysis
The paper discusses a Digital Shadow for Production Quality Analysis (DS-PQA) method and system design that integrates feedback from machine components on the shop floor. In a feasibility study, the paper evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of the DS-PQA method and system on a welding cell that manufactures automotive parts. The method uses live data capture via OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA)-based data acquisition and is paired with designs to analyze the defects in real-time. The study results indicate that the DS-PQA method and system are feasible, more efficient, and can substantially lower the latency for analyzing production quality risk compared to a traditional retroactive approach.
Podcasts/Video:
The Factory of the Future w/ Bernard Casse [Manufacturing Happy Hour]
North America Between Growth and Industry 4.0 [Powering Progress]
Twitter:
Investments in Semiconductor Manufacturing
Tiny Parts Made on Marketforged’s PX100
Manufacturing Deals
AccelerComm - UK-based mobile network optimisation technology developer focused on 5G channel coding technology
£21.5 million [Series B] - Led by IQ Capital, Bloc Ventures and IP Group
AMP Robotics - A Denver-based developer of robots for sorting recyclable materials
$8 million [Series C] - Led by Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund
UV Eye - A computer vision company that develops automated inspection systems for vehicles
$100 million [Series D] - Led by Hanaco VC and joined by GM Ventures, CarMax, W.R. Berkley Cand F.I.T. Ventures.
Doppelio - A complete IoT testing automation and simulation platform for physical devices
£1.2 million [Series Seed] - Led by Axilor and Mela Ventures
Modern Hydrogen - A company developing methane pyrolysis reactors that take natural gas from fossil fuels or biogas from natural sources and strip off the carbon to make hydrogen
$32.8 million [Series B] - Led by NextEra Energy and joined by Miura and National Grid Partners